


A Dragon Is Not A Slave

by My_Marvel_Musings



Series: Blood Of The Dragon [1]
Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies), X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-10-22 08:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17659655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Marvel_Musings/pseuds/My_Marvel_Musings
Summary: The Avengers get word that Hydra has a mutant they are using as an unstoppable weapon. They team up with the CIA, SHIELD, and the X-Men to capture this mutant and see if she's worth saving. When they finally meet her, she's not at all what they were expecting and fear what kind of damage she could do when set free. But Thor sees another side of her and reaches out when she needs it the most.Special thanks to toekneemyrs. This wasn't a request, but they helped me figure out who to pair reader with in my strange story idea, lol!





	1. Hydra: The Cockroaches of Bad Guys

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, this is going to seem weird, but as I have mentioned in a past work of mine my muse 95% of the time comes from music. Well, this time it came from rewatching X-Men Days of Future Past and Apocalypse so I could finish If You Could Live Forever. I was also rewatching season 7 of Game of Thrones that week and, well, a weird melding happened in my head. So yeah, on top of ALL the Marvel that will be in here, there will be tons of Game of Thrones references. Especially during the scene when they try to capture Reader. If you don't get any of the references, please feel free to ask me in the comment section below!
> 
> Oh, and I may recommend songs for some of the chapters to listen. Just to give you an idea of my weird thought process, lol!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers have to team up with the CIA, SHIELD, and the X-Men when they hear that a very dangerous mutant is being used by Hydra as a weapon.

"Are we ever going to be done fighting Hydra? And do we have to? I feel like after all that shit with Thanos, this isn't as big of a threat." Tony leaned back in his chair at the conference table, paying more attention to the packet of blueberries in his hand then at Nick Fury standing at the front of the table.

Fury sighed and glanced over at Phil Coulson and Maria Hill sitting to his right. Maria looked completely done with Stark and the meeting hadn't even started while Coulson didn't even look phased. "Trust me, Stark, no one would like to be done with Hydra more than me. But this is a unique situation. Word has it they have a mutant under their control and the power level is unknown."

Bruce looked up from the mission notes in confusion. "A mutant? Why aren't the X-Men dealing with this then?"

"They will be. The threat this mutant brings is enough that Professor Xavier fears his team is not enough. We'll be working with them along with SHIELD and the CIA to capture this mutant unharmed and bring them back to the CIA headquarters in DC." Fury leaned over the table to look at the team in front of him. "This won't be any run-of-the-mill Hydra attack. According to Xavier, this will be our most difficult mission yet."

There was a murmur around the conference table as the Avengers took this information in. Bucky sat in a chair just off the table behind Steve. He technically wasn't allowed on missions as of yet, but he was at the meeting as a consultant since no one in the room knew Hydra better than him. Bucky was pretty sure he knew which mutant Fury was referring to, but he would wait until more information was presented before he spoke up. And if it was the one he knew of, they were in for one hell of a fight.

Steve sat there, measuring his words before he spoke. "So....  _this_ asset we obtain unharmed?"

There was no mistaking the implication of his words. Bucky may have been deprogrammed, pardoned, and allowed to earn his place among the Avengers, but Steve was having a hard time letting go of all the trouble he and Bucky went through to make that happen. Meanwhile, this mutant was to be brought in unharmed if possible. He couldn't help but notice the injustice of the situation.

Fury sighed and nodded his head. "Go ahead and let it out, Cap. I would be pissed too."

Steve just shook his head. "I just can't help seeing the hypocrisy of this whole situation. Why the hell is this mutant getting special treatment?"

"Well, for one thing if they are proven not to be brainwashed like your buddy was, they'll be handed over to Xavier once the whole ordeal is over. They've been used as a weapon to target large armies, not as an unstoppable assassin focusing on important political figures. Charles is more prepared to help a mutant in despair than we were at deprogramming the Winter Soldier. In case you forgot, that had to be outsourced."

"Because I forced your hand on that matter."

"Because you broke the law, yes."

Steve's jaw clenched. "And if they are brainwashed?"

"That's what the cell at CIA headquarters is for. Professor Xavier gave them a rough idea on the type of cell that would be needed. Reinforced glass walls, a high ceiling, exposed beams."

The Avengers all looked at each other in confusion and Clint spoke up. "Uh, high ceiling? Exposed beams? That sounds way better than my room on the floating raft was."

"Yeah, well last time I checked you may be called Hawkeye, but you don't actually fly Barton. Apparently there are-" Fury stopped and shook his head, "this mutant has a unique body shape that makes a normal cell impossible for them."

"Unique body shape?"

"He means she has wings, Clint." Bucky finally spoke up from the back.

Everyone turned to face Bucky just as Vision entered the room. "Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt. But Professor Charles Xavier is here with two members of the X-Men. As well as Secretary Ross with Agent Ross of the CIA."

Fury nodded his head. "Thank you, Vision. Can you tell them we're back here?"

"Of course, sir." Vision left as quietly as he entered.

All eyes returned to Bucky and Fury voiced the question in everyone's head. "I'm guessing you know this asset, Sergeant Barnes?"

"As well as could be expected given that I was mostly under Hydra's control and she was normally kept caged up. Professor Xavier's right: this won't be an easy fight."

Professor Xavier rolled through the doors trailed by two of his teachers as well as Secretary Ross and Agent Ross. "Please pardon our interruption. We would have been here sooner, but I was using Cerebro to try to find out more about the mutant we need to capture. I brought with me Logan Howlett and Piotr Rasputin to hear this briefing. Logan is best at strategy and Piotr is the current leader of the X-Men."

"Actually, you're just in time Professor. Sergeant Barnes over there had just informed us he was at the same base as the mutant."

"Is that so, Barnes?" Secretary Ross wondered. "Please continue then."

The newly arrived group lined up along one of the walls while Professor Xavier rolled up to an empty spot at the table. Bucky looked uncomfortable at the attention but pressed on. "This.... 'asset' won't be like any other Hydra operative you've ever come across. Not even Wanda and Pietro could match this. Don't get me wrong, Wanda's mind games were no doubt no joke. But this one....."

"Does she have a name?" Xavier questioned.

"Yeah, _____. Not sure if she has a last name or if Hydra took it from her when they captured her over a decade ago. They've been programming her ever since. Not like I was, because she's not even remotely fit for stealth missions. But she was taught over 30 languages and how to fight without using her mutations. Even I was made to spar with her. And she won't talk to anyone who isn't her handler. So when we capture her, she'll understand everything you say to her, but she'll never respond. And if she does, it'll be in what they called 'Dragon's tongue'."

"Dragon's tongue?"

"A language only spoken by her and her handlers. It's one I've never even heard before in all my years of traveling around the world, so I have no idea where it came from."

Bruce spoke up. "Maybe Thor will understand it. Do we know when he'll be back?"

Fury shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. He, Loki, and Brunnhilde are off on some distant planet and he didn't exactly leave an ETA with us. Knowing our luck, it'll be after we leave to obtain the asset. How old is she, Barnes?"

Bucky shrugged. "Like I said, they've had her for over a decade and she was somewhere around, like, 10 or 12 when they first got her. The wings barely there, the tail long and skinny-"

"Tail?" Tony's eyes grew wide.

Bucky ran a hand over his face with his normal hand, his metal one clenching and unclenching. "She, uh, she has a very unique mutation. For the most part her body is pretty normal."

"But...." Fury leaned into his question.

"But she.... she has the features of a dragon."

The silence in the room was deafening. No one knew what to make of what Bucky had just said. Charles and his two teachers had a clue; they had seen their fair share of mutants with bodies that have changed with the activation of their X-Gene. But someone who was part dragon?

Finally Agent Ross broke the silence. "What, uh, what do you mean by features of a dragon?"

Bucky took a deep breath. "Her eyes are mostly red with a black outline - helps her see in the day or night. The skin? Just like dragon skin in legends. It looks like human skin except it's impenetrable. She has a long tail that barbs at the end and she has full control of it: use it for balance, during flight, or even as a method of self-protection. And her wings..... taller than her body when pulled close. They are black and red like her eyes, leathery just like dragon wings would be, and have a claw at the top joint. And when expanded at full length, they stretch out at least fifteen feet. Her nails on her hands and feet look normal, but are reinforced and unbreakable." Bucky lick his lips. "But that's not the worse part."

"Well then what the hell is the worse part?!" Fury shouted.

Bucky looked Fury dead in the eyes. "She can breathe fire."


	2. Field of Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teams converge in Canada to attack the hidden Hydra compound. They quickly see how formidable the secret weapon is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’ve seen Game of Thrones, you’ll recognize a lot of the battle from the end of episode Spoils of War. Mainly how Drogon is used, lol! If you haven’t, I’ll link the youtube clips below. 
> 
> Triggers for the video clips: violence, blood, fire, and language. It is Game of Thrones after all.
> 
> If you don’t want to watch it, you can use Spotify to find the season 7 soundtrack and listen to Spoils of War part 1 & 2.
> 
> Hold on to your butts, this is going to be a long chapter, lol!

[Spoils of War - 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtUEGSEsH7Q)  [Spoils of War - 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF4h59szYqM) (The transition is practically seamless. You won't lose a second)

* * *

Outside the Avengers' hanger, SHIELD, the Avengers, and more X-Men gathered in front of their respective planes: SHIELD's 'bus', the Quinjet, and the X-Jet. Fury was talking to the SHIELD agents while Steve and Tony prepped the Avengers. They all felt this would have been easier if Thor was with them, but they were going to have to make due. Tony made sure to emphasize that no harm was to come to the mutant.

"If we eventually want her on our side, we got to show her we're better than Hydra."

"Well said, Mr. Stark." Professor Xavier rolled over to the Avengers with his X-Men in tow. "I felt I should properly introduce my team before we reach the battle site."

"You're going with us, Professor?"

"Of course. My mutation will give me the unique ability to freeze the young lady in place if we can manage to get her on the ground."

"If you can do that, why don't you just get into her mind and make her surrender?"

"Because of what you just said, Mr. Stark. We have to prove we are better than Hydra. And going into this troubled young lady's mind and forcing her to do something she doesn't want would put us on their level."

"Good point. So who's joining us today?"

"You already met Logan and Piotr. They will go by Wolverine and Colossus during the standoff. I also have Cable, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Yukio."

"Unique names, that's for sure."

"Don't forget Wade," Logan grunted.

Charles sighed. "Yes, of course. Though I do wish he had stayed behind at the mansion."

"You know we would have come back to that place in a thousand pieces."

"I'm sorry, who is this now?" Tony looked back and forth between the two men.

"Wade Wilson. He refers to himself as Deadpool. A bit of a wild card for this assignment, but he insisted on tagging along."

"Knowing his luck, he'll get toasted like a marshmallow and we'll have to deal with him growing his limbs back," Logan smirked.

Tony did a double take. "I'm sorry, did you say 'grow his limbs back'? Like some sort of lizard?"

Logan chuckled. "Lizards aren't this annoying."

Tony shook his head and hit the nano casing so his suit would form over his body as the team climbed into the Quinjet. He turned to Bucky. “Is there anything else we should know about, Barnes?” 

“Yeah. She has superhuman strength. Like, almost on the level of Thor or the Hulk.”

“Hydra?”

“No, her mutation. It’s what gives her the ability to use her wings for flight and fighting.” Bucky climbed onto his bike. He was heading straight to the CIA headquarters to help Agent Ross prepare the crew for the asset’s arrival.

Coulson walked past with his SHIELD team to head to their bus, a large plane outfitted specifically for missions such as these. “Can you tell us how far her fire stretches?”

“Nearly thirty feet, so try not to get too close. She’ll also have a collar around her neck.”

“A collar?” Coulson stopped dead in his tracks.

“Multi use. During battle it’s to make sure she stays within fifty miles of her handlers. In the base it ‘turns off’,” Bucky made air quotes, “her mutation so she can’t breathe fire or use her strength.”

“Almost like a DMC collar.” Logan observed.

“A what?” Tony looked back at the mutant.

“DMC collar. It’s used when a mutant’s arrested to keep their powers at bay. Cruel shit.”

"Cruel or not, it's what will be implemented once we capture this creature." Secretary Ross strolled up with Agent Ross at his heels. "It's the only way to ensure the safety of every team member in order to transport her to headquarters."

Tony rolled his eyes and looked back at the Professor. "Guess we'll see you guys out there. Hopefully this won't drag out too long."

Soon the three teams were airborne as the CIA headed back to DC to await the arrival of the mutant. It didn't take long to find the Hydra base buried deep in the Canadian wilderness. Tony reached up and switched his comm on and all three teams were instantly linked thanks to a little rewiring done by FRIDAY. 

"Ok everyone, heads up. Barnes also said that they won't lead with the mutant right off the bat so we'll have to go in with a big stick to poke that wasp's nest. They also move her around a lot so if we don't catch her today, it just means overtime in manhunt hours."

"Hey, I got a big-"

"Wade, shut your ugly mug!" Cable growled over the comms. "No one gives a shit about what you keep in that dumbass suit of yours."

"Well, I'm going to need lots of liquor once this is over," Clint shuddered in the pilot's seat.

"We need to come up with a plan, Stark." Coulson interrupted. "The plans are showing that the south side of the compound backs a mountain so it's not feasible to surround it."

"Not on that side, but we can still make a semi-circle around the rest of it," Logan offered up.

"Good idea. Rhodey, Vision, Sam, and I will take to the skies and see if an air assault won't provoke them to release the beast. The rest of the Avengers can cover the west entrance."

Melinda May, Coulson's second in command, chimed in. "SHIELD will set down the bus back a hundred miles so it won't get torched and use the SUV we keep on board to meet you guys at the location. That way if anything happens to your guys' planes, we still have a way of getting out that won't involve walking. We'll cover the east entrance to the building."

Coulson spoke up. "We'll also transport the mutant once we're done as we have a holding cell on board that will work for the relatively short flight."

"Sounds like we got the north entrance, Professor," Logan noted. "Why don't the SHIELD agents keep Hydra busy once they come pouring out? Some members of the X-Men are made to have fire thrown at us and come out unscathed so we should be the ones to take the brunt of the secret weapon."

"Sounds like a good idea," Coulson conceded.

Once the teams landed, everyone moved into position. The X-Jet and the Quinjet were set back only 40 miles but at the tree line so it wouldn't be as easily accessible to a Hydra attack. Natasha was the first one to speak up.

"Ok, either they know we're coming and they don't care or we actually got the jump on them. Last time we hit a Hydra base, they had posts every fifty yards."

"My vote is for the former. If this mutant is as dangerous as Bucky says, and moved often, they probably aren't going to waste the time and effort in setting up scouts." Steve pulled on his helmet and removed his shield to be ready.

Tony, Rhodey, Sam, and Vision immediately took to the skies and split up to take a separate corner of the compound's roof. Tony took the lead. "FRIDAY, scan the building to look for any weak points. We need to poke that nest."

"Right away, boss."

"Mr. Stark," a voice poured out of the speakers that were stationed along the outside of the compound. "Do not trouble yourself. If you wish to play with our pet, then your wish is our command."

"How do you know that's why we're here?" Tony continued to use FRIDAY to scan the property.

"We've remain hidden for quite a while, but we knew it was only a matter of time. Now tell me, how well can you dance with a dragon?"

Suddenly, what little sunlight was peeking through the clouds became covered. On the ground, a black shadow in the shape of a woman with large wings began to circle the groups. The teams looked up to see a woman clad in black leather and boots, occasionally flapping her wings to remain gliding. As if given a silent command, she instantly began to dive straight for the two jets at the tree line.

The speakers uttered one more word, "dracarys."

Fire poured out of the mutant and set the X-Jet on fire, causing the X-Men to flee from the jet. Colossus picked up the Professor's wheelchair and dashed into the woods to set him a safe fifty feet away from the action. The mutant banked right as she reached the ground, the tip of her wing barely skimming the dirt. Deadpool tried to tackle her to the ground but was met with a spiked tail to his face when she whirled at the last minute to defend herself.

"Fuck sticks!" He cursed as he slammed back into a tree.

Cable pointed his gun at her hovering back and fired. The blast knocked her forward and she used the momentum to somersault and twist in the air so she was then facing the time traveler. Cable was struck by how beautiful and fierce she looked; it was something he wasn't prepared for. You hear dragon and you forget the human part that was still remaining. The mutant used this pause to her advantage and pumped both wings at once, causing a gust of wind to blow Cable back fifty yards.

"Fuck, I'm too old for this shit," Cable grunted as he landed.

Hydra agents began to spring out of the compound and dashed towards the SHIELD agents. Nat and Clint raced off to give them a hand, followed by Wanda and Steve. Negasonic produced an energy blast causing several Hydra agents to fall backwards. The chaos on the field temporarily had everyone forgetting the dragon now circling overhead. 

"Hey Tin Man!" Logan shouted. "Can you toss me at her? If I can get a hold of her, the weight of my skeleton should bring her down."

"Niet, that would not be advisable, Logan." Colossus answered. "We must wait for Avengers to ground her."

Logan grumbled and went to find high ground to try to provoke the mutant to attack. The mutant dropped again, this time setting the Quinjet on fire.

"Don't touch my stuff!" Tony complained as he flew after the dragon. She spun midair and let out a stream of fire in his direction. Stark dodged it just in time. "Ok, fine. I guess I can learn to share."

With Clint and Natasha handling the Hydra agents, Coulson and May gathered some of the SHIELD team. "Line up and take aim! The guns we provided for this mission are armed with tasing bullets. It won't hurt her but it should bring her down."

"Yes, sir!"

The group got into formation and took aim at the mutant. She must have sensed them as in mere moments she was changing her direction midair and flying straight down at the group.

"Ready! Aim!"

All agents pointed their guns at the descending mutant.

"Fire!"

Just as the guns were fired, the mutant turned to her right, wrapped her wings around her body, and rolled into a sideway somersault over the group. The bullets bounced harmlessly off the wings. Before she hit the ground, she opened her wings back up, pumped them twice to gain height, and immediately set the SHIELD SUV on fire.

"Goddamnit. Stark, it's all up to you. We're pretty much sitting ducks down here."

"Copy that, Phil. Rhodey, we need to team up to get her to land. Sam, you and Vision distract her while Rhodey and I each come up on one side of her."

"And then what, Tones? Wave at her? Nothing seems to work on her and I don't feel like being roasted inside my War Machine armor."

While they argued, Colossus managed to grab the dragon's tail before she could climb back into the sky. That enraged her and she instantly turned on the all metal mutant, letting out an ear piercing shriek. But Colossus refused to let go.

"Come, little one," his thick Russian accent was filled with concern, "we are only trying to save you from Hydra. Come with us."

As an answer, she spun at lightning speed and used her strength to pull Colossus off the ground, over her head, and slam him into the ground. Then she grabbed her own tail with both hands and opened up her mouth to shoot fire at Colossus. He closed his eyes against the blast and tried to keep hold of the tail. But soon his metal skin began to glow from the flames and he was forced to let go.

"Bozhe moi!" Colossus watched as the mutant took to the skies again.

A tiny airplane-like droid then whizzed by the mutant's head. She whipped her head just in time to see Sam fly by her. "Better catch up, dragon lady."

Sure enough, she took the bait and began to fly after Sam, shooting out flames at him in annoyance. One stream barely missed one of his wings.

"Uh, Vision? Any day now."

Vision shot a beam out of the gem in his head, missing the mutant by inches. She spun around and roared in Vision's direction. 

"Guys, you gotta bring her lower. If we attack now the fall might kill her." Tony ordered.

"I got this," Clint fired off an arrow and the dragon instantly locked eyes on his location. "Uh, shit."

"Way to think that through, Barton." Nat complained. She grabbed Clint by the quiver and pulled him away as a stream of fire headed towards them.

Steve tossed his shield at her, hoping the impact would knock her down a few feet. Instead, she caught it just like Bucky had a few years ago. Without missing a beat, she spun and hurled it back. Cap was barely able to get out of the way before it struck the ground, burying itself three-fourths of the way.

"We're just gonna have to go for it, Tones, and hope we can catch her before she lands. At this rate, we won't have a team left."

"Alright, Rhodes. Hit her with the sonic canon and I'll blast that collar right off her."

All four airborne Avengers surrounded the dragon. Sam used Red Wing one more time to distract her and that's when Tony and Rhodey struck. The collar came off at the exact moment the sonic canon hit her head. She passed out briefly and began to free fall to the ground. 

"Give me a little juice, FRIDAY." Tony began to pick up speed in order to catch the falling mutant.

But it didn't matter. Shortly before hitting the ground she gained consciousness and flapped her wings to slow her descent. She rolled when she hit the ground, landing with one knee bent up and the other leg beneath her. Right in her field of vision on the ground was her old collar. Slowly reaching up, she felt the rough skin from where the collar once was. Everyone on the ground could read her expression as it went from confusion to realization to joy.

"Get her back! Now! The Avengers can't have her!"

Slowly and with purpose, the dragon turned as she stood up and faced the Hydra agents that were racing in her direction, her handlers in the front. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a man in a wheelchair trying to quickly approach the scene but she paid him no mind. Opening her mouth, she let a stream of fire out towards Hydra.

Professor Xavier raised his hand and pressed to fingers to his forehead. And in that moment, time froze.


	3. Prisoner Of War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader is detained and taken to the CIA headquarters. She's believed she's been brought there to die, especially when Thor shows up carrying Storm Breaker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuing with my weird theme, Everybody Knows by Sigrid (The one used at the beginning of Justice League - you know, that dumpster fire of a movie? It was, fight me.) is a song I would listen to for this chapter. Especially when Reader is being shown her cell in DC.
> 
> Also going to be second person from here on out. The last chapter almost was, but I decided to keep with the Spoils of War theme and have it from the view of the people on the ground.

You began to slowly come to, your head slightly throbbing from the sonic blast you had endured before your crash landing. You knew in a few hours it will have been like you weren't even in a fight. The bonus of your mutation, you were almost indestructible. Even if the collar was still on you.... 

Pausing in your thought, you realized it felt like there was still a collar around your neck. But you were pretty damn sure you remembered seeing it on the ground in front of you at the end of the fight. You could feel your hands beneath your head and you slowly moved one to feel at your neck. Sure enough, the collar was back. Or was it? This one felt newer, sleaker, and cleaner for damn sure. What did happen when the fight ended? You remembered falling, seeing the collar, torching your handlers - gods that had felt good. But after that? It was kind of a blur. Almost as if your body had locked down against your will.

You moved to sit up and that's when you noticed you had large metal cuffs around your wrists. Attached to them was a long metal chain that met large metal cuffs at your ankles. Your wings twitched and you could hear the rattling of more chains. Clearly whomever had ended up with you wasn't fucking around.

"That's for our safety." Came an authoritative voice.

Your head instantly snapped up to see you weren't alone. Sitting up, you could see you were in a metalic grey room with hexagon designs all over the floor, walls, and ceiling. You had been laying on your stomach on a very hard bed and as you sat up you almost fell over. Your tail had been bound with your wings and it was throwing off your center of balance.

In the room with you stood four men in each corner: to your right was the large, all metal mutant that had grabbed you by the tail during the fight. You knew if you stood up he would easily tower over you by a foot or two. To his right was the man who shot you in the back. He looked like a soldier, greying hair but a hard face and had a metal arm like the Winter Soldier. But you could see the metal peeking out of his collar of his shirt onto his neck and you could swear it almost looked organic. Like it had grown from his skin. Next to him was a man you had only seen glimpses of during the battle. He was good looking in a rugged sort of way, full beard, built, and a look about him like he had seen too much in his life. These three would not make for easy jailers while you had the collar on.

And the last man seemed out of place from the other three. He was in slacks and a button up with the sleeves rolled up and a bullet proof vest over that. There was a bureaucratic manner about him and it seemed odd he was one of your jailers.

"Glad to see you're finally awake," the suit spoke up. "I'm Phil Coulson, Director of SHIELD. This is Logan, Cable, and Colossus of the X-Men. We'll be guarding you as we travel to DC. You'll be staying at the CIA headquarters there."

Ah, a director of SHIELD. That explains why he was there. And if SHIELD finally caught you, that could only mean one thing: what Hydra said was correct. You were captured and now you would be killed because of how dangerous you were. Gods only knew why you were being taken to DC first instead of having the job finished at the compound you had been held at. You knew better than to believe the lie that you would be 'staying' in DC. Hydra may have lied to you about a lot of things, but if SHIELD was finally getting involved in your life, you knew everything you had been told about them was going to lead to your end.

Sighing, you tried to find a comfortable position on the bed. But it was always a bitch trying to sit with your over-sized wings on a normal basis. Throw in them and your tail being tied up against your body and you could kiss any form of comfort goodbye. In the end, you gave up and opted to stand against the wall in between Cable and Colossus.

"Bed not to your liking?" You just twitched your wings in response. "The chains will come off once we get you in your cell in DC. Then we can talk about where we go from there. Sergeant Barnes told us your name is ______?"

You frowned in confusion. Sergeant Barnes? You were unfamiliar with that name, though Coulson was told your name correctly.

"Sorry, guess you would have known him as the Winter Soldier."

Your eyes grew wide. The Winter Soldier was alive?! After he disappeared, your handlers had informed you SHIELD had killed him and that you would end up the same if you ever tried to escape. So what was the truth?

"I'm assuming Hydra must have told you some story after he escaped their clutches." You remained silent. "You know, this would go a lot easier and faster if you joined the conversation."

Silence continued from your spot on the wall.

"Guess Barnes was correct on that assessment. Anyway, he's an old friend of Captain America and Cap helped Barnes get deprogrammed so he could rejoin society. If you play your cards right, the same can happen for you."

You snorted and rolled your eyes. Sure, deprogrammed and join a society that clearly hates anything that's even remotely different. And maybe your wings will turn in to cute, glittery pixie wings that fold up easily against your body.

"_____, I promise we just want to help you. But you need to meet us halfway. Can you tell us how long you've been at that facility? How long Hydra had you? Do you have any idea where your family might be? We can call them if you want."

Your eyes narrowed at the mention of the people who tossed you into the cold, cruel world alone just because you began to sprout wings and a tail against your will. Leaving your vulnerable for Hydra to just come along and pluck you off the ground. If you ever saw them again, it would be too soon.

"I'm guessing she doesn't care about them, which is unsurprising," Logan spoke up and Coulson looked over his shoulder at him. "It's not uncommon for mutants to get tossed out by their parents once their powers come to the surface. With the ones that _____ has, I'm even less surprised."

"Da, Logan is correct. Our school is full of many students who no longer have a home of their own. If _____ can shake off Hydra's hold, it could become her home as well."

Coulson looked back at you. "Is that true? Did your parents throw you out?"

Your eyes began to water and you blinked your eyes as you averted your gaze. The last thing you wanted to think about was the day you lost your home. Anger bubbled inside you: what gave them the right to ask about your personal business? In frustration, you pulled a foot up and kicked behind you to hit the wall. The loud bang reverberated around the room.

"I'm guessing you hit a touchy subject. Better back off before she figures out a way to torch our asses even with that collar on," Cable quipped.

Coulson nodded his head. "My apologies. We can talk about that later."

 _Or never,_ you thought.  _Never would be good._

Before long the plane began it's descent into DC and you could hear a commotion outside the door. Coulson poked his head out, spoke a few words, and soon a woman was walking in.

"Good afternoon, _____. My name is Melinda May and I'm Coulson's second in command. How are you doing?"

You cocked an eyebrow and looked at her as if to say  _Are you fucking kidding me?_ but remained silent otherwise. Coulson just sighed. "She's been silent this whole flight. Not even a word of this 'dragon's tongue' Barnes mentioned."

That caught you off guard. They knew what language you mainly spoke but not how to speak it. You had to admit it was going to be nice to not have to speak every time someone asked you a question.

May just nodded and opened the door wider. "Ross is waiting for us inside."

"Secretary or Agent?"

"Agent. The Secretary of State will arrive later tonight or first thing in the morning."

Coulson looked over at Colossus and Cable. They each grabbed an arm and began to pull you through the doorway after Coulson and May, Logan bringing up the rear. You didn't bother trying to fight. With the collar and chains on you, even if you could fight off the five surrounding you there was no chance you would make it off the plane before being brought down. The five of you walked out of the room and out the back of the plane, passing by groups of people you saw on the battlefield. None of them seemed to be holding a grudge against you. Well, except the one you were assuming was Captain America. He was watching you with a measured gaze, the shield he tossed at you strapped to his back. You walked across the expansive landing strip and into an obvious government building. There a group of people was waiting to greet you, only one you recognized thanks to Hydra but you were sure they all were Avengers.

Tony Stark strolled up to you despite Coulson voicing his concerns. "It's fine, Phil. She's not going anywhere. Hey, kid. I'm Tony Stark. Those are some pretty awesome wings. Mind if I take a look?"

You jerked back the best you could when he slowly reached out to touch you.

He pulled his hands back and held them up in surrender. "Fair enough, I should have waited for the O.K. Look, the plan is to keep you here for a while to make sure you're not a threat, see what you know about Hydra, the whole 9 yards. But we're hoping maybe you'd want to join our team when your time is up? Could really use someone like you."

Join the Avengers? Had he lost his ever loving mind? Clearly he was trying to trick you, but you couldn't help but be compelled to answer him.

" _Zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor._ "

Everyone froze and turned to stare at you. The silence was so painful and so focused on you, no one noticed the small group of agents walking over. The head of the group was a man with greying hair and dark blue eyes. He had a serious look to him and you knew he would be the one in charge of your 'stay' in this building.

"Is there a problem here, Stark?"

That seemed to snap everyone out of their trance. "Agent Ross, you're just in time. Our guest actually spoke! Though Barnes was right. I have no idea what the hell language that was."

"Dragon's tongue, right?"

"Appears to be so. But I just got word that Thor returned to the compound an hour ago. He should be flying over here any minute and maybe he'll have an idea what she's saying."

"Fine. In the meantime let's get her set up."

Colossus and Cable pulled you forward to follow after the group of agents, the Avengers now behind you. Except for Stark. Now that he knew you could and would speak, he was glued to your side.

"So what's the deal, kid? Barnes said you know over thirty different languages but you choose the one that no one else knows now that your handlers are dead? Don't you miss talking to someone?" You looked over at him and frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Ok, fair. I'm sure Hydra agents were just a barrel of laughs. But don't count us out! We got a great facility and you could start your life over."

"Don't give promises you can't keep, Stark." Agent Ross warned. "We heard what happened on the battlefield and I can't see Secretary Ross just handing her over to you guys. Especially given your track record."

Tony rolled his eyes and blew a raspberry. "Details."

Your group eventually stopped in front of an all glass room and there, one more person was waiting. "Good evening, ______. I'm Professor Charles Xavier. I'm a mutant, just like you."

Like you? Cocking an eyebrow, you twitched your wings so the chains rattled. The professor chuckled.

"You are correct, I do not have wings. My mutation has to do with my mind and for that I must apologize. I am the one who froze you at the end of the fight."

Sighing, you nodded your head in acknowledgement. That would explain why you didn't remember much after you torched Hydra.

“I will be visiting you often in hopes you will open up and talk about what you had experienced. Now as a fair warning, I can read minds though I try not too without permission.”

You nodded your head again and waited as the agents heaved open the heavy door to your cell. Colossus and Cable pulled you inside and then turned you to face the entrance. Coulson came up holding a set if keys.

“Ready when you are, Professor.”

“Forgive me, _____. But we’ll need to freeze you again.”

This time you were kept conscious and it felt.... wrong. It was like you had been pushed to the back of your own mind, losing all control.

The three men went to work removing your chains and cuffs, but leaving the collar on. Coulson gestured to the bed along one of the walls.

“On the bed is a set of clothes for you and in the corner a bathroom you can use to change in. Please place your old clothes in the sliding bin by the door. That bin will also be how you receive your food everyday.”

“Very ‘Silence of the Lambs’ of you guys.”

“Give me a break, Stark.” Agent Ross glared at him. “It’s not like you guys are equipped for this any better than we are.”

The three men left your cell and as the heavy door slammed home, the hold on you was released. Walking to the center of the room, you stretched your wings out first completely behind you and then fully to the sides. Your tail swished around you a few times as you walked to the bed. On the bed you could see a small pile of clothes and already you were filled with dread. No way in hell any of this would fit you and clearly they didn’t trust you enough to make your own. Though in all fairness it did take at least five years and many ripped bed sheets later before Hydra finally gave in. You wondered how long it would take SHIELD.

You picked up the shirt first and frowned. It was a standard shirt which meant no way in hell would you be able to get it on with your wings still attached. At your old compound you had a small variety of strapless corsets, halter tops, and even one long sleeve shirt that you had sewn a zipper into the back and a scooped back to accommodate where your wings were located right on each side of your shoulder blades. Without another look, you tossed the shirt on the floor close to the sliding tray.

“Excuse me, that’s standard issue. You have to wear it.”

You just cocked an eyebrow at the agent and flexed your wings. Then you picked up the pants. A fine length but you could see the seem in the back wasn’t meant to be pulled apart. Which meant when you did to make room for your tail, nothing would stop the pants from splitting completely. They got tossed aside as well.

Picking up the top sheet on the bed, you held the shorted side and quickly pulled with both hands. The sheet ripped perfectly down the middle thanks to all your years of practice.

“Hey!” Came the annoyed voice again.

You ignored him and removed your boots as requested, tossing them next to the discarded outfit. Picking up half of the bed sheet, you walked to the bathroom to change.

Well, you tried to at least. First the tops of your wings wouldn’t go through the door. So you bent forward to ease them in first. But then your sides stuck out too much. Fucking hell. If the Winter Soldier told them about you why the fuck was the door too goddamn small?!

Sighing, you placed yourself in the doorway facing the bathroom and extended your wings out to offer you some cover. They would see your bare back but after the day you had, you were out of fucks to give.

Quickly you removed your old shirt and tossed it over your shoulder. There was a brief embarrassing murmur from the agents on the other side of the glass followed by a laugh from Tony.

“Guess you guys didn’t plan very well. How the hell is she supposed to use the bathroom if she can’t fit through the door?”

You could hear Agent Ross clear his throat. “Um, someone get maintenance up here on the double. We need to replace the door ASAP.”

While you listened to the agents scramble, you took the sheet and began to wrap it around your torso to form a halter top, tying the two end pieces behind your back. You finally turned to face what was left of the group. Coulson and Ross were red in the face while Tony was shaking with laughter.

“Not laughing at you, kid. Just amazed the government would be this ill prepared.”

You took the time to do a circle in place to get an idea for your cell. It was a decent size, giving you just enough room to expand your wings if necessary. The bathroom looked big enough but it was hard to know for sure since you couldn’t fit in the door. The single size bed was bolted to one wall and when you looked up, the celing expanded at least twenty feet above. Fat lot of good it did, though. With this collar around your neck, it was like they just took a chain and bolted you to the ground. No super strength, so no ability to use your wings.

 _Better than Hydra, my ass._ You thought bitterly.

You completed your circle to face the door again just as a door loudly banged opened. Tony looked over and smiled. “There you are, Point Break! Come see what we caught.”

Curiosity got the better of you and you walked over to the glass wall. Into your vision walked a very tall, blonde, bearded man clad in leather armor. His hair was cut short and he had two different eye colors. You couldn’t help but notice how good looking he was. But all that disappeared in the moment you noticed he was carrying an ax almost as tall as him.

You were right: SHIELD was going to kill you.


	4. Thunderstorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader meets the God of Thunder and worries what her fate may be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I REALLY did not expect the last two chapters to be so damn long. Like, I knew I was gonna ramble like hell with this one, but never predicted this. Hopefully you guys are liking all the extra details.

Would it be possible to fight him? Hard to say. He was at least a foot taller than you, well built, and was holding that godawful ax. Not to mention you had this fucking collar around your neck robbing you of your strength and ability to breathe fire. And if all those weren't factors, the man that could freeze you with his mind was still here. Is that how they were going to do it? Freeze you so this man could get a clear shot at your neck? Then why the cell? Why the urgency to replace the bathroom door? Nothing was making any sense. But nevertheless, you weren't about to die without putting up a fight.

Backing away from the wall, you spread out your wings and pointed the top towards the glass. You pulled the top joints inward so the claws at the end were readily available as weapons. Crouching into a fighting stance, your tail began to swish back and forth behind you. A low hiss escaped between your teeth.

Tony cleared his throat. "Uh, Thor? You may wanna..."

Thor looked at Tony gesturing at the ax. "Oh! Of course, Stark. My apologies."

He walked around a corner and you could hear him setting the ax against a wall before reappearing in your sightline. Despite the weapon disappearing, you didn't leave your fighting stance. But he wasn't even phased by your obvious animosity. 

"Hello!" He started in a cheery voice and a smile that seemed to light up the entire room, "I'm Thor of Asgard, God of Thunder. I must say, those are really beautiful wings you have there."

His casual conversation threw you for a loop and you slowly lowered your hands in confusion. Did he sincerely compliment your wings? You remember Tony had said something about them earlier, but it seemed different coming from Thor. Almost.... like he knew what it was to be around someone so different from everyone else and he was trying to make you feel comfortable.

"Sorry, Thor. Forgot to mention that _____ here doesn't like to talk to people. Except that one phrase she said to me when she first got here. Barnes said it's going to be like that since she doesn't trust any of us."

"Doesn't trust us? But you saved her from Hydra!" Thor walked over to the glass wall and began to try to look around your room.

"Yeah, but she is currently caged up."

"She also thinks you brought her here to kill her," Professor Xavier added. Both men turned to look at him and the agents stopped what they were doing to listen. Xavier looked at you briefly. "Forgive me, my dear. I know I said I tried not to read minds without permission but I believe they deserve to know this. You see, while she was never on Hydra's side they fed her lies that if she was ever caught by SHIELD she would be killed because of how dangerous she was."

"And she just believed them?" Agent Ross raised an eyebrow.

"She had no home before Hydra found her. Her own family threw her out so to say that the so-called good guys would kill her for being a mutant wasn't really too hard to believe."

"Enemy of my enemies," Tony mumbled. "Well that explains why she didn't hesitate to fight us."

The group was interrupted by some men walking in carrying a large door and tools. Agent Ross began to explain the situation as you stood up and looked at Xavier.

"Yes, I will have to freeze you again. For quite a while I'm afraid, until they are done replacing your door."

You just nodded your head, pulled your wings in, and backed up against a wall away from the bathroom. Xavier placed his mental hold on you and the agents opened the door to begin quickly fixing your bathroom. Thor looked back at Tony in confusion.

"What are they doing? And why has Lady _____ stopped moving?"

Lady? No one has ever referred to you as a lady before. Was this guy for real?

"Professor Xavier is using his mutation to hold _____ in place so the CIA can fix her bathroom. The door's too small for her wings to fit through."

You could feel Thor's eyes on you as your cell filled with people replacing your bathroom door and eventually leaving. You wished that they would kill you quickly. All this waiting and being observed like an animal in the zoo was tiresome. Finally the hold was released and you just slumped on to the floor, no longer having it in you to fight if this truly was the end. Your wings hung to your side and your tail only slightly twitched without any thought from you. Thor noticed that it reminded him of a cat's tail.

Professor Xavier nodded at his X-Men. "I believe it is time we head back to the mansion. Gentlemen, please feel free to contact us if you will need our assistance again. Good luck, _____. I hope one day to show you the place where a mutant can be themselves."

You looked up and met his kind eyes, realizing he truly meant what he was saying. You gave him a tired smile, " _kirimvose._ "

Xavier smiled in return. "You're welcome."

All eyes turned to him and Agent Ross practically shouted. "You understood her?!"

Xavier chuckled. "No, but it wasn't hard to figure out what that word meant given the context. When she speaks this dragon's tongue, her thoughts turn to that language as well. The programming runs deep. But I have no doubt we will soon set her free. Goodnight."

The X-Men quietly exited the room, leaving you with the CIA and the few Avengers that had followed you to your cell. Thor was now giving you a thoughtful look and you couldn't help but glance at him despite how drained you felt. His eyes were kind and you truly wondered once again if he was there to kill you. It seemed more impossible now.

"What's on your mind, big guy?" Tony half turned to face the god, half faced you.

"I feel as if I had heard that language before." His eyes didn't leave your face.

"Dragon's tongue?"

"Is that what they are calling it? I almost believe there is another name for it, but she spoke the word so softly I am not completely sure."

"Well I don't think we're getting an encore out of her tonight. Wanna come back in the morning?"

Thor nodded absentmindedly. "Good idea. I may even have to bring Loki with me."

That caught Coulson's attention. "Absolutely not!"

"Forgive me, Son of Coul. I know Loki has done many of wrong things but he is here trying to correct that. He will also be able to help me remember where I have heard this language before. He will not stay long, but I do require his help."

"Thor, we may want to hold off on getting your brother involved. We don’t want to flood her with too many new faces at once. And Loki’s not exactly the warm and cuddly type.”

“Very well. Can we have FRIDAY record when she speaks so I can play it for him? I still believe he will recognize it faster than myself.”

"If you think that's best. We'll even bring Barnes with us tomorrow. Maybe he knows some secret code to crack."

"Secret code?" Thor frowned.

"Never mind. Let's get back to the compound. I left Parker unsupervised and I fear how my lab might look."

"Goodnight, Lady _____." He bowed in your direction and gave you a sweet smile.

You just nodded your head. Once they left, you crawled to a corner of your room, pulled your knees up, and wrap your wings around you. You were unsure what the morning would bring, but it had to be better than what today had been. Dinner wasn't even on your mind as you lulled yourself to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And to counter point, an incredibly short ass chapter, lmao! Sorry guys. This story has got me all over the place.


	5. The Dragon Lords

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor becomes the key to communicating with Reader.

The next morning you woke up early without even being told. A habit you picked up from Hydra along with becoming a light sleeper. You may have been a mutant, but you were still mostly human, a woman, and trapped in their cage. And the Hydra men weren't exactly gentlemen to their captives. But so far SHIELD didn't demonstrate their agents sharing that inclination.

You spent a few minutes getting yourself ready - so grateful you could now walk into the bathroom - before standing on your bed to see if it was possible to reach the lowest beam. A voice interrupted your attempt to make a leap.

“Why don’t you just use your wings?”

On the other side of the glass wall stood Director Coulson with a tray of food. You stepped off your bed and walked over as he placed the tray in the sliding box. Without saying a word, you walked right up to where he stood and grabbed at your collar.

"She can't, Director Coulson," a familiar voice rang down the hallway. "You put that collar around her neck."

Around the corner came a small group of the Avengers to no doubt study you some more. Tony was leading the group with Thor on his right, who had a smile and a wink for you. Behind them stood Captain America and.... SHIELD had been telling the truth. The Winter Soldier was still alive.

"What do you mean 'she can't'? We saw her use them on the battlefield while wearing Hydra's collar, Sergeant Barnes."

Barnes walked past the rest of the group and over to your glass wall. You looked at him in curiosity. The two of you hadn't been enemies but you weren't exactly friends either, knowing all that the other could do when pushed. You couldn't help but wonder how he ended up as part of the Avengers after all the dirty deeds Hydra forced him to do.

"As I mentioned during the debriefing, the collar had multiple functions. It would only turn off her mutation while in the compound. If they didn't add that function, she would be useless during a fight." He stated matter-of-factly.

"And the wings are part of her mutation turned off?"

"No, her strength is. Remember how I said her strength level was that of Thor or the Hulk? That level of power is what gives her the ability to not only use her wings, but carry them with her day to day."

Tony looked over at you, "so you're saying that her wings...."

"Are pretty much the equivalent to me tying two bags to your body and filling them with about fifty pounds each - roughly - of wet sand. The more she uses them without her strength, the more she wears herself out."

While they discussed your useless wings, you walked over to the sliding tray to see what food you had been brought. For the most part Hydra fed you decently, but every once in a while you'd get an asshole jailer and you'd had to wait until the next shift to be given real food. After the first few times of this pattern you had begun to hide food around your cell. It seemed SHIELD subscribed to Hydra's way of feeding the captive: oatmeal, toast, and water. Not the most appetizing meal, but you hadn't eaten since before the battle yesterday. 

The five men watched as you took your tray and sat on the bed to eat. Tony frowned and turned on Coulson. "Really? Oatmeal and toast? I hope you have better meals from here on out planned."

"This is a prison cell, Stark, not a hotel. She'll eat what all our captives eat."

"Did you not just hear Barnes? She's carrying around at least an extra hundred pounds of weight right now. At least give her decent enough food to deal with that bullshit."

Coulson sighed. "I'll see what I can do, but the CIA is in charge of everything in this building."

"Then get Agent Ross down here. Or Mr. Secretary himself."

"Yeah, let's not do that, Tony." Captain America spoke up for the first time, his eyes still on you. "I still remember the stories Clint and Sam told me of their time on the raft. Not to mention what they did to Wanda. I may not like that _____ was given preferential treatment in her capture versus Bucky, but that doesn't mean I want her to suffer at the hands of Secretary Ross. You know how he feels about anyone different, enhanced, or seen as dangerous."

Tony scratched the back of his head as he looked between you and his friends. "Hey Phil...."

"No way, Stark."

"You don't even know what I'm going to ask!"

"Not necessary. I've known you long enough. And I'm going to stop you right there. No way in hell the CIA or Secretary Ross would agree to you guys taking _____ and keeping her in your compound."

"C'mon, Phil. You and I both know she's not safe here. Not with Ross in charge. You heard what happened during the Accords. And all the shit he's trying to give Xavier about his school. If we ever want the Dragon Lady on our side, we have to show her she can trust us."

"Stark, I just can't hand her over to you. It's not up to only me. She's the property of the CIA as much as she is of SHIELD's."

Thor's thundering voice interrupted. "What if we can earn her trust? Will you hand her over then?"

All eyes turned towards him. Even you had stopped eating long enough to figure out what was going on. Cap voiced his questions first. "You want us to try and earn her trust without freeing her? Do you have any idea how we would do that, Thor?"

You walked over and placed your empty tray in the sliding box and met Thor's eyes. Sincere concern was all over his face as he refused to look away as he spoke. "I will visit every day and show her we are not Hydra. I will spend time here with ____ telling her about the compound and all the good we have done. I will also tell her of the mistakes we have made."

"Why would you do that?"

"So she can see that we learn from our mistakes to try to make our team better. That we do not believe ourselves to be infallible. That just because she has stumbled, does not mean she cannot have people around her that will gladly pick her up."

"That sounds like a great idea, Thor," Barnes chimed in. "I'll even come with you a few times. She needs to see it's possible to have a life after Hydra."

"Good idea, Bucky," Captain America slapped his friend on the back. "What do you say, Phil? Would it be possible?"

Coulson sighed. "Maybe. But you'll have to get Agent Ross and his team on board."

"Done!" Tony proclaimed confidently before wandering off to find said agent.

Cap shook his head before turning back to you. "Looks like we may hopefully be teammates one day. I'm Steve and you already know Bucky and Thor."

You nodded at the other men. Bucky's mouth twitched into a half smile. "You probably remember how I was called the Winter Soldier. Well after I was.... deprogrammed I was given the name White Wolf. But you can call me Bucky when you start to feel like talking to us."

One corner of your mouth twitched up and you nodded again. You looked over at Thor and saw he already had a huge smile for you. It was very hard for you to understand who this man was and why he cared. He was willing to give up his time to come down to your cell - daily - to see if it was possible for you to trust this team of superheroes.

You took a deep breath, " _Skoro syt?_ "

"Because you deserve to know there is good in this world."

The silence that followed Thor answering your question was shattered by Coulson dropping your empty tray. Even your eyes were as wide as dinner plates, never expecting him to understand let alone answer you.

“Thor,” Steve started carefully, “did you just understand what she said?”

“Of course! I remembered the one word she had uttered yesterday and ran it by Loki to help me remember. She is speaking High Valyrian. I did not respond to her yesterday as I was not completely sure and did not wish to make a fool of myself.”

“Ok. So where in the nine realms is this spoken?”

“Unofficially, here.”

“I’m sorry, Thor. What?”

"It is a language that was created for a set of books and shows here on Earth, called A Song of Ice and Fire."

"You mean Game of Thrones?" Coulson questioned.

Thor turned towards Coulson as he answered. "Yes, as the show is referred to. What _____ is speaking is one of the two languages created specifically for the show. It is very difficult to learn as it is not as readily available to be taught unlike the other."

"That must be why they chose to teach her that one versus the other. If she's caught - like now - she can't reveal anything to her captures if she's taught several languages but forced to respond in the one no one would know. And if she were rescued by Hydra, because she could understand everything her captives said, she could report back to them." Coulson turned back to look at you but you were solely focused on Thor, still amazed he had understood.

"There may have been another reason. When Stark told me it was referred to as Dragon's Tongue, it sparked my memory and turned me to ask Loki. In the show and books, High Valyrian is mainly spoken by the people of a land called Esos. Specifically by the dragon lords."

"Dragon lords?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

"The greater houses that had the dragons. Only their bloodlines could control the great beasts and it was a sign of their power as dragons are notoriously difficult to control."

"Well," Coulson turned to the other two men, "looks like Thor is our official translator then. Brush up if you need to and I'll get you permission to visit everyday."

"Thank you." Thor turned back to face you. "Lady _____, I hope in time you will grow to trust me enough to speak more openly. Until then, I shall be here every day to talk to you if you are willing to listen."

For the first time in years, your face lit up in a genuine smile. “ _Kirimvose_.”


	6. Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor becomes a regular visit for Reader and the two become closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song recommended: Monster by Starset
> 
> Btw, A LOT of angst towards the end of this chapter.

Thor was true to his word and the very next day he was at your cell bright and early. You sat on the floor of your cell by the glass wall eating the food the CIA provided as Thor first talked about himself and how he came to know your language.

"During my first visit after I became an Avenger, my love at the time - Jane Foster - was trying to introduce me to as many books as possible. One of them was the first book of a seven book series called 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. I enjoyed them so much I brought a copy back with me to Asgard where my brother, Loki, took his turn reading them while I was traveling around the galaxy."

He waited to make sure the agent who was watching you was distracted before placing a book in the sliding bin. You quickly removed it and replaced it with your empty food tray. Just as the agent turned around, you had the book hidden in your wings and Thor was speaking to you again.

His voice was lower as he spoke to you, "that is the first book in the series. Keep it somewhere safe and when you have finished I will bring you the next one until you have read them all."

You smiled at Thor and offered your thanks in your dragon's tongue. And so, once Thor left for the day, you hoisted yourself up on the lowest beam in your cell, placed your back against the wall, and used your wings to hide behind as you began to devour the text. It had been ages since you were last able to read without it having to pertain to a mission you were being sent on or a language you were forced to learn. The book was leather bound and the golden words 'Game Of Thrones' seemed to leap out from the front cover. You were at the halfway point of the book when you heard someone trying to get your attention.

"May I please speak with the dragon lady?"

You peaked around your wings to see it was Agent Ross addressing you. Placing the book on the beam, you jumped down and walked over to the wall.

He looked you over quickly before speaking again. "Listen, we know about the book and you don't need to hide it unless Secretary Ross is visiting. Before you silently ask, we have cameras facing your cell. Standard for anyone, um," he cleared his throat, "staying here."

You just cocked your eyebrow at his choice of words.

"I know, I know." He waved his hand at your expression. "Not the words I would have chosen either. But I'm going to do what I can to make it feel more that way. Stark told me how he eventually wants to move you to the Avengers' Compound and Professor Xavier expressed hope you would choose his school specifically made for mutants. In order for either to be a viable option, we need to establish trust with you and vice versa. So in addition to allowing Thor to visit you daily, you will be allowed to keep that book and any other books he brings to you."

You began to feel cautiously optimistic and gave the agent a small smile.

"Your meals will also be altered as well. Sergeant Barnes informed us what it means to have that collar around your neck. While we are not ready to remove that completely, we will up your protein and vegetable intake to help stave off any fatigue you may experience. In return, I hope you will tells us all that Hydra did."

Your face fell at that. The last thing you wanted to think about was what those monsters did to you.

"I didn't mean in anything that pertained to you!" Agent Ross amended quickly. "More over anything that they did to the US government or any other government."

The smile returned and you nodded your head.

"Good. Then I'll leave you to your book. Your lunch will be here shortly."

" _Kirimvose_."

"You're welcome. I hope we can soon decipher more of what you say or you trust us enough to switch to English."

You just gave him a half smile and returned to your reading post. By the time Thor returned the following day, you had managed to finish the one thousand paged book. But in all fairness, your days were pretty damn empty now. 

Thor rumbled a laugh when he saw you deposit the book in the sliding bin. "Well then, since I can see you are a quick reader and we have Agent Ross' permission, I shall bring you two more books tomorrow."

You couldn't help the grin on your face as you settled yourself on the floor, waiting for Thor to continue his stories from yesterday. He returned day after day, bringing you books until you had read the entire series that founded the language you spoke. He branched out and went to the library with the help of his friends to find more books to bring to you. And when he was visiting you, he filled your head with stories of his youth. How beautiful Asgard had been, who his parents were (it stunned you to find out that not only was he a god but a king as well. And here he was spending his spare time with you), his complicated relationship with his brother and why everyone was so quick to condemn him. You listened in rapt attention, not wanting to miss a word in hopes you could better understand why Thor cared so much about your salvation.

It never really came up why Thor insisted on being the one to spend all his time with you. Thor never mentioned it and you were afraid if you asked the question he would see he was wasting his time and stop coming all together. You were growing accustomed to the God of Thunder visiting you and since no one else really stopped by - minus people from the agencies keeping an eye on you - you were grateful for any kind of interaction that was the exact opposite of what you had experienced at the hands of Hydra. You hadn't realized it, but you had become starved for affection and positive attention. And Thor..... you weren't sure as to why, but you felt like he was finally breathing life into you.

Progress seemed to point in the direction of you trusting the Avengers - at the very least - sooner rather than later thanks to Thor's visits. That is, until the Secretary of State decided it was time to visit you himself. Up until then, he frequent the CIA headquarters to get regular updates from Agent Ross and Director Coulson but he hadn't bothered to travel down to your cell yet. If he'd given more than five minutes of thought, he would have approached you completely different or not at all.

You were sitting on the floor, as usual, with Thor mimicking you on the other side of the glass. He always refused a chair when he visited, believing that being on your visual level when talking helped forge the bond of trust. A door down at the end of the hall banged loudly, startling both you and Thor. Agent Ross was quickly walking down the hall followed by two men you hadn't met before. One was also in a suit like Agent Ross but far taller and sterner looking. The other was dressed all in black with an eye patch over the left eye. Thor immediately shot to his feet.

"Fury, good to see you today," he shook the hand of the man with the eye patch. You hadn't bothered to move from your spot on the floor.

Fury turned his one good eye on you cross legged on the ground, wings crisscrossed on the bottom to make it semi-comfortable to sit, tail slightly twitching. "So good to finally met you, ______. I'm Nick Fury."

You just tilted your head to the side in response. Clearly that name was supposed to mean something, but you couldn't pull it out of the mess that was your mind.

"So, this is the creature Hydra was using." Your head snapped to lock your red eyes with the ones of the taller suit. Very slowly, you rose from the floor and walked over to the glass wall. You had grown used to the hurtful words humans would pick to describe you and your mutation, but there was something extra in this man's voice. As if he had seen this too many times to even believe keeping you around was worth the effort. "Have we learned anything useful yet?"

Agent Ross cleared his throat. "Not yet, Secretary Ross. Thor is working on earning her trust so she will tell us everything she knows about Hydra."

"Earning her trust?" Secretary Ross turned from you to look at the agent like he had lost his damn mind. "I don't care about her trust. She's our prisoner not a new Avenger. She won't even speak English to any of our agents, only that gibberish to Thor. Your job is to find out what this monster knows about Hydra. Where they are, how many are left, what they are planning. Do you understand, Agent Ross?"

"Sir, I think it would be in our interest to gain-"

"Did I ask you what you thought, Agent Ross?" Secretary Ross turned back to face you. "Get what we need from her then see if it's possible to use her for our future needs. If not, we'll have to think of what we'll do with her then."

You were seeing red at this point. This man barely regarded you as a living creature, let alone a human. Your tail whipped past you and the barbed end struck the glass wall, but it held firm. _"Zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor_ _!"_

The secretary seemed unfazed. "Thank you for proving my point. I don't know what you just said, but it doesn't matter."

"She said 'a dragon is not a slave', Secretary Ross." Thor spoke up, moving to stand between Ross and the glass wall. "And I will not have you speaking to her in such a disrespectful manner just because this young lady had her X-Gene grow a pair of wings and a tail against her will."

"She can also breathe fire, or did you forget that part, Thor?"

"Again, a trait given to her against her will. Or did you forget that part?"

Secretary Ross sized Thor up before speaking again. "This creature is not worth saving. She has done horrible things to many countries."

"Every Midgardian is worth saving and past deeds do not mark who a person is, especially when made to do so against their will. I believe Sergeant Barnes and my brother Loki are prime examples of that."

"Poor examples at best. She will be dealt with in the manner the government deems best, not the Avengers." He turned once more to Agent Ross. "No more visitors. If she's not willing to talk now, she never will. That's an order."

And with that, he left as quickly as he came, a whirlwind so fast not even Fury had been able to keep up. You didn't need to be versed in the modern world to know exactly what this meant for you: lack of cooperation meant lack of life for you. Hydra took away your ability to function like a normal human and it would cost you everything.

Thor turned to Fury. "Is there nothing we can do?"

Fury took a deep breath, look at first Thor and then you. "I don't know, Thor. This is a very complicated situation. Unless your friend here decides to start talking to us, our hands are tied. Hell, they may be still even after she talks. Secretary Ross isn't exactly a friend to mutants."

Agent Ross actually looked sick. He had been commissioned with watching all the videos of your interactions with Thor as well as regularly checking the normal feed to get an idea of who you were. All he could see what that you were scared and desperately wanted to be able to trust people again. And here it was being ripped away from you when you were so close to having it for the first time in years. 

Fury looked over at you as you sunk to the floor. "If only Hydra hadn't fucked with your head, we'd have more options available to us."

You took a deep breath. "It wouldn't matter to a man like that. The moment he saw me, I knew I was going to be sentenced to death."

All three men looked at you like you just grew a second head.

You gave a faint smile. "I was, uh, working my way to trusting Thor enough to want to start speaking English but...." you gave a bitter laugh, "guess it doesn't fucking matter now. Thank you, Thor, for trying so hard to save me. And please do not worry, Mr. Fury. I haven't held my life in high regard since I began to sprout my wings. I always knew my end would come at the hands of my enemies. I had more time than I guessed I would, so there is that."

"Do not worry, Lady _____. I will figure a way to get you out of this."

"Thank you, Thor. But please don't bother. You heard the man: servitude or death. I've been a slave most of my life. It doesn't matter to me that it's now for the 'good guys', I'm still not free. At least death will give me that."

Thor shook his head. "No, I will not allow it. I will fight to get you on the team."

"Please, Thor. He's right. No one would want me as a superhero. What child is going to willingly run to a creature with red eyes and dragon wings for safety? I am a monster."

"No, you are not." Thor declared firmly. "You are a beautiful woman that deserves a real chance at life to see that it is not all like this prison cell. And I'm going to fight to see you set free."

Before you could respond, Fury beat you to the punch. "If you're going to do something stupid, you're going to need help. We better get back to the compound and get Stark involved. In the meantime, I think it's time your brother paid ____ a visit."

"Good idea, Fury." Thor locked eyes with you, "I promise to return as soon as I can and set you free."

"Why do you care so much about the dragon lady, Odinson?" You could feel a tear trickle down your face as you tried to hold yourself together.

"Because I have fallen in love with the dragon lady."


	7. Fire And Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fire and ice meet at the behest of Thor while everyone bands together to save Reader's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta stop making promises about chapter releases, lol! My house was in chaos all weekend and I don't own a laptop. So it's phone or desktop when at home lol! Will try to be more on top of this one.

Love. It was a foreign word to you. In fact, the last time you heard the word spoken out loud was by your parents when you were ten, right before your wretched mutation reared its ugly head. Not that you didn’t know what it meant; you did. But.... it was impossible to wrap your head around the fact that the most handsome, kind, smart, and funny god/king you had ever met was in love with you. Not like you knew of other god/king men. You knew what you meant.

But you were a mutant with fucking wings, a tail, and the ability to breathe fire! Not to mention your eyes which you always hated. You couldn't even look in a mirror without being reminded of what you were. Not even your own parents who were supposed to feel unconditional love towards you could stand to look at you. So how could Thor love you?

You were on your reading ledge, a new book forgotten at your feet, as you rolled these thoughts in your mind. Suddenly, the metal beam in front of you began to glow red until words formed.

_Do not be alarmed. This is the only way I can visit you._

Before you could question what the message meant or who sent it, there was a sound similar to that of air being released quickly and two people were on the beam with you.

A hand immediately covered your mouth. “Do not be afraid. Thor sent us.”

You nodded your head and the hand was removed. The hand belong to a man who looked to be as tall as Thor (hard to tell with him sitting) with long, raven-black hair, pale skin, and green eyes. He was dressed similarly to as Thor had when you first met him, but in a color style different from Thor. This had to be Loki.

The companion with him surprised you. He was clearly a mutant like you. Black hair, yellow eyes, deep blue skin, and a tail like yours. Though his was skinner and pointed at the end, like a caricature of a devil.

The mutant smiled shyly at you and spoke with a Russian accent. “Hello. I’m Kurt Wagner.”

“Uh, hey. What’s- what’s going on?” You began to lower your wings as your tail twitched.

“Just keep your wings up as you talk to us and all will be explained. We cannot be seen but if they see you talking to thin air, our time will be up.” You looked at Loki in confusion but kept your wings up as you often did when you read. “Originally I was going to come before you as a projection. But Thor thought it best if we spoke in person so I have recruited a mutant from Xavier’s school to transport me inside your cell. I’m currently using my magic so the agents will never know you’ve had a visitor.”

You blinked at all that. “Alright.... so why are you here? Thor never did mention why we needed to meet.”

"He felt it was necessary for you to speak to someone who would understand what it was like to be loved when you didn't feel like you deserved it." Loki did his best to make himself comfortable on the beam while Kurt used his tail to hang upside down from the beam above you. "Thor.... he believes in people, believes in the good in them. It's really quite annoying, frankly. But it did give me my second chance and at times I feel it was more than I deserved."

You tilted your head to the side as you measured his words. "I know who you are. That whole attack on New York. I was Hydra's prisoner a little over a few years at the time and I remember them watching the news, wondering which would be worse for them: you winning or the Avengers. I remember not caring either way. It would mean my freedom - or so I thought - either by death via Chitari or jail break by the Avengers." You smirked, "though you can't get rescued if no one knows you're missing. Is that why Thor chose you? Because of what you did once?"

"No. He chose me because I would understand better than him what it was like to hate yourself for the monster everyone said you were."

You leaned in, "no offence, but being Thor's younger brother that one time attached a city doesn't make you a monster when you still look like you could be a model on Earth. You don't know what it's like any more than Thor does."

Loki just smirked at you before his skin began to slowly change in front of your eyes. His skin when from pale to a blue almost as dark as Kurt's with markings all over his face and red eyes. The color and texture changed back just as quickly and you were left feeling stunned.

"It, uh," Loki cleared his throat, "caused quite a stir the day I found out. It was around the time my brother was banished to Earth and Odin and I got into quite a row about the whole situation. How I was left to die by my own father, how I felt my adoptive father favored Thor, how I always felt like I was in their shadows. It's why our mother taught me her ability to use magic. To give me something of my own."

"What- are you a-"

"No, I am not a mutant. I am a frost giant. The enemies of the Asgardians. Odin found me where I had been left to die after a battle on Jötunheim and he took me in to raise as his own. It took quite a while to come to terms with what I was and I still struggle at times. But Thor.... Thor continued to see me as his brother even after everything came out. To him it did not matter which species or planet I came from. We were raised together so in his mind I was his brother for life. It was more than I ever deserved."

You let out a shaky breath at that. "Well, his love is certainly more than I could ever hope to deserve. Though I still don't know why he does at all."

"My brother does not give his heart so easily, despite his annoyingly cheerful and friendly nature. So believe when he says the words to you. In the few months of his visits here, you have captured his heart and he will not let go if you just say the words."

"I'm afraid to. The last people who claimed to love me tossed me out into the snow the moment my wings could no longer be hidden from them. Thor...." you sighed, "talking to him has made me feel like I was actually normal. As nice as Agent Ross and Coulson are to me, I can still see it in their eyes. I'm something dangerous, to be handled carefully. But Thor...."

"I know, believe me. It can be very annoying at times how optimistic he can be about the person he cares for. But I know that he does love you and you are the first woman he has risked his heart with since Jane broke up with him."

You looked down at your hands. "Why did she leave him?"

"She could not handle it; the abnormal-ness of what we are. She is a brilliant and strong woman, but she was very focused on her career and could not handle Thor being gone for months at a time to keep the nine realms safe. You see, when you rule Asgard, you are also made the protector of the realms. Asgard is now here on Earth, but Thor still has a job to do out there. You would be different from Jane."

"How?" You could feel your eyes misting as you looked back up at Loki. This was all too much to hope for.

"You could go with him. I heard about the battle when the Avengers came to free you. No doubt you would be the partner he would need, on and off the battlefield. The proper queen at his side."

"Queen?!" You did a double take at the word.

Loki chuckled, "I do not wish to sugar coat it for you. If you should return my brother's affections and all goes well for you in regards to," Loki gestured around your cell, "then you would become queen of the Asgardians should you choose to remain with my brother. A path, no doubt, you never thought would be an option for you."

You blinked in shock and tried to collect your thoughts. "Yeah, I can't say it ever crossed my mind that a Norse mythology god would fall in love with me and I go from being fugitive to a possible queen. I may have been sheltered for a good chunk of my life, but I'm pretty sure that's not a dream a lot of girls my age have had. Mutant or not." Loki laughed again. "Especially given my track record with men before SHIELD came to my rescue."

This caused Loki's eyebrows to furrow in confusion. "What do you mean, little one?"

"Oh please, do the math. I was Hydra's prisoner, I'm a woman, supposedly I'm beautiful - though I personally have a hard time seeing it when red and black eyes stare back at me - and I was trapped in a cage with a mutation negating collar around my neck. Do I even need to spell out what the guards favorite past time was?"

Loki's jaw dropped at this. "I... I am so sorry! But I promise you my brother would never lay a hand on your without your permission!"

You gave him a tired smile, "I have no doubt Thor would be a gentleman. But that's a moot point anyhow considering I'm still stuck in this cage, pretty much on death row."

"Do not worry on that regard. My brother is working tirelessly to free you as we speak. Which reminds me," he looked up at Kurt who had been quietly watching the whole exchange, "it is time for us to depart. If what Thor told me of your schedule is correct, your lunch will be on its way shortly. It was a pleasure to finally meet you, ____."

"And you, as well, Loki. Hopefully we'll meet again soon."

Loki smirked once more, "oh I have no doubt we will."

Kurt grabbed Loki's arm and they were gone in another puff, leaving you alone once more. But you oddly felt more optimistic than before, even if you still couldn't wrap your brain around Thor loving you. Low self-esteem brought to you by prison life. Though you had to admit, Loki's timing was perfect. No sooner had your guests left, then Coulson was rounding the corner to your cell with a tray of food. You never understood at first why it was usually Coulson, or Ross, or even occasionally May who brought you your food instead of some agency lackey. That is, until Thor told you it was their hopes that you would trust them if you saw them each time they brought you your food. And that made you wonder: how much more different would your life had been if you had opened up to Ross or Coulson instead of Thor at first. Would Thor have fallen in love with you? Would you have grown close to one of the agents instead? Was that the reason why you felt you cared for Thor: because he was there first?

"You seem deep in thought," Coulson commented as he slid your tray of food over.

"Yeah, well when major life changes happen all at once, you tend to experience an existential crisis." You picked up the tray, only half paying attention to what was your lunch that day. "Especially when one of those changes may very well bring about the end of your own life."

Coulson looked over his shoulder at the agent that had been standing guard, "run and find May. Tell her that the prisoner is ready to talk and that we'll need all the recording equipment."

"Yes sir!" The agent was off in a blink and you cocked an eyebrow at Coulson.

"Is that what I just said? I know it's been a while since I've mostly spoken English...."

"I just needed him to leave," Coulson walked up to the glass wall and you followed suit. He lowered his voice, "but I'm also not going to reveal much else. They say the walls have ears."

His eyes then quickly flashed down towards your tray before meeting yours again. You had trained yourself long ago not to give anything away when certain people might be around so you didn't follow his gaze. Instead, when May finally arrived with Agent Ross, you placed your tray on your bed and quickly removed what looked like a note tucked underneath your sandwich. In a flash, the paper was in the bed sheet around your torso and you were now sitting on the bed getting ready to eat your lunch.

Agent May began to set up the equipment as you ate. Once you were done, you sat down by the glass wall and began to report everything you knew about Hydra while you were their captive. As an added bonus, you then began to recount every little thing they did to you, on and off the record. All three agents turned green at your words.

"Originally I wasn't going to say anything about the last part, but I felt Secretary Ross deserved to know the kind of person he was putting to death. A victim and a person forced to do things against her will."

Agent Ross cleared his throat. "Yes, well thank you for that insight."

The agents cleaned up their equipment and left quietly. As soon as you were sure you were alone minus your guard, you immediately climbed back up onto your reading post, propped up your wings, and pulled out the note.

_Lady _____,_

_I wish I was able to bring this to you in person, but I do not wish you get you into any further trouble._

_My fellow Avengers have agreed to help set you free and Natasha and Clint are currently working on all leads they have in SHIELD for extra assistance while Stark is busy pulling strings inside the government._

_I hope to bring you good news very soon. If not, I will find another way to set you free, even if I must break you out of that prison with my own hands._

_You have my word as well as my heart._

_Til we can meet again,_

_Thor_

You read the note twice more before you held it close, barely aware of the smile playing on your lips. It was official: you were in love with the God of Thunder.


	8. Breaker of Chains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor does everything in his power to deliver his promise to Reader.

"So once we go over all the evidence you have provided us, we can get the trial under way." Agent Ross was reading from a clipboard as he spoke to you. "I already know the answer, but I have to ask anyway: have you ever been to court or even seen a trial on tv?"

You scoffed as you answered. "Oh, of course! The Hydra agents used to place a tv by my cage and we'd watch crime shows whenever they weren't invading a government building. A real bonding moment."

"Alright, smartass. I had to ask." You could see the corners of Ross' mouth pull up in a smile he was trying to suppress. "Then I'll go over the basics of what you will be expecting while Agent Romanov takes care of other areas."

"Wait, what?"

"Hey, kiddo." As if she had just appeared out of thin air, the one you had heard of referred to as Black Widow was suddenly at Agent Ross' side. "I'm here to make you look presentable for court. Not that you can't rock the whole bed sheet look, but that's tend to be frowned upon by a judge."

"Thank the gods. I was getting pretty tired of washing the same bed sheet halves over and over again. The skirt isn't as easy to wrap around as the top is and I was wondering how long it would take for you guys to finally give me clothes that would actually fit my body."

"How long did it take Hydra?" Widow was carrying a large duffle bag with her and Agent Ross walked over to the control panel for your cell.

"Five years, and even then they made me do it myself with scraps of fabric. But still, better than bed sheets."

"And no doubt warmer. By the way, you can call me Nat if you want." Ross pressed a button and to your surprise, your cell door opened and Nat walked right in. The door slammed shut behind her and she noticed your shocked look. "I was trained by the KGB. Everyone's confident I would escape with my life if you tried to attack me."

You gave a smirk and shook your head. "In response to making my own clothes, I never get cold so the bed sheets were never an issue in regards to that. And as for attacking you, not if I wrapped my tail around your neck. I never would, but I felt I should be honest with all I can do, collar or not."

Nat returned the smirk as she set the bag on your bed. "I appreciate the honesty. Means you are starting to trust us."

"I'm trying to and I really want to, but it's so hard to unprogram over a decade of being betrayed."

"Oh, I know that whole song and dance. I was supposed to be killed by SHIELD as well years ago. But here I am and if all goes well, the same can happen for you."

"I hope so." You walked over to where Nat stood, pulling fabric and various tools to make an outfit for you. Clearing your throat, you looked down at the bed as you spoke next. "How is Thor? Have I gotten him in trouble?"

Nat's smirk turned into a warm smile and she did something you never expected the expert assassin to do: she pulled you into a hug. You were frozen for a moment, haven't not been hug in so many years, but you finally melted into the embrace and hugged her back. "Gotta admit, never had to hug someone with wings before. It's a little awkward."

You couldn't help your laugh as you two pulled apart. Nat reached over and wiped a tear off your cheek you didn't know had fallen. "Try being on my end. Sometimes it's impossible to find a comfortable position to sit or even sleep."

"I can't even imagine. And I see what you mean by never getting cold. You clearly run a higher body temp than most people. You feel like you're about to burst into flames."

You smirked at that. "Fire cannot kill a dragon."

"Ok settle down, Daenerys," she turned back to the bag and pulled out a cloth measuring tape. As she began to measure your body - specifically where your wings and tail landed on you - Nat continued to talk. "As for Thor, he's fine. Secretary Ross couldn't touch him even if he wanted to. I mean, seriously, how do you put sanctions on a god? Stark and Rhodey are currently explaining to him how the court systems work for a situation as complicated as this."

"And how will the system work?"

Nat stopped and looked at you. "Honestly? We're not sure. I was brought into SHIELD secretly so no one would know of my background of being a sparrow. Bucky kinda freed himself from Hydra but needed Steve's help to fully break free, which required a trip to Wakanda for a crash course in deprogramming. You're not like either of us. I fought with the KGB on purpose and Bucky was brainwashed by Hydra. You...." she sighed and squeezed your arm, "you were kidnapped, beaten, tortured, abused, and threatened with death. Not to mention you're also classified as a very dangerous alpha level mutant. The public's still on the fence on how they feel about mutants."

"Alpha level?" Your eyebrows furrowed.

"It means you have a very high mutant power level. Some alphas are almost omega level with their powers but omega level mutants - on top of their power level - can also blend in seamlessly with their surroundings."

"Ah, yeah," you glanced back at your wings. "Clearly that isn't me. So I'll have an uphill battle, is what you're saying?"

"Yes, but you won't be alone. On top of anyone we can get from the Avengers and SHIELD, Professor Xavier is coming by to do an analysis of your personality and mental state to present it before the court. He's better versed than the rest of us on the mentality of mutants, especially if they were used and/or created to be weapons."

"You make it seem like that's a common thing."

"More than you would think. Logan, one of the mutants sent to capture you months ago, he was captured and used in the Weapon X Program decades ago. He's an alpha level mutant as well and then he had his entire skeleton covered in adamantium. Xavier's helped turn his life around and he's confident he can do the same for you."

You rolled this around in your head as Nat took measurements, held up different cloth options against your skin, and finally typing into a very high tech looking phone. 

"Welp, I've done all I need and sent the info over to Shell Head. He'll get started on getting a couple different outfits ready for you."

"Wait, a couple? Won't I only need one for court?"

Nat smiled, "normally, yes. But Stark is nothing if not a prepper. He'll have a uniform ready along with some day-to-day clothes for you as he's so damn sure you'll become an Avenger now that Thor's taking a liking to you."

You blushed at this. "I'm surprised your team is so open to welcoming me in when just a few months ago I was made to attack you."

"That's the operative word: made. Not to mention, but we couldn't help notice that you never really shot your fire at anyone. Yeah, empty vehicles and Hydra agents were torched, but not us. Even when you did fire in our direction, you missed us when the shots were rather easy." Nat gave you a knowing look.

Nodding your head, you licked your lips before answering. "I always hated that I had to work for Hydra and I did everything in my power to keep from having to torch people directly if I could get away with it. There were so many of you on the battlefield and so many vehicles, I felt I could make it look like I was attacking you without actually doing so."

"Smart move. Great way to let your 'enemies' know you're not really there to harm them."

Before you could discuss the trial further, the doors down the hall burst open and you could hear approaching footsteps along with what sounded like wheels rolling closer. You and Nat went to the glass wall to see who was breaking the visitor rule.

"So this is how you get a Black Widow into a glass jar," Bucky joked as he strolled up.

Nat just stuck her tongue out. Professor Xavier rolled up behind him with Steve right next to him. "Good afternoon, Miss ______. Are you ready for your evaluation?"

"As ready as I possibly could be, considering I have no idea what's even going to happen."

"Well, for one thing a big change has occurred," Steve jumped in.

Agent Ross looked up from his paperwork. "What big change?"

"For one, the venue's been changed. If I may?" Xavier gestured to the cell and Agent Ross opened the door. You watched as Nat and Xavier changed places. "For another, so has who will be presiding the entire event."

Agent Ross looked back at his notes. "Changes? I still have here that it's to be held at Military Tribunal as _____ is technically a war criminal."

Steve spoke up, "well the thing is, with ____ being a former Hydra captive and held in different locations all over the world, the trial was going to be moved to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands."

Bucky interrupted, "but since Stark and Thor are dead set on making _____ an Avenger, it's more complicated now. Especially with _____ being a mutant and a victim of Hydra. Much of the mutant community is calling out both Hydra and SHIELD for practicing cruel and unusual methods in regards to how she is/was kept on the sites respectively. So now-"

"It's being held by the U.N." Xavier finished as he rolled farther into your cell.

“What will that mean for me?” You questioned as you took a seat on your bed.

“It means you have a more of a fair chance to be freed.” Xavier smiled at you. “We just need them to see what we see. Shall we begin?”

You nodded your head and Xavier began his questioning with the others looking on.


	9. Valar Morghulis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader meets the U.N. and finds out her she has more support than she realized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I'll admit I kinda painted myself in a corner in the last few chapters. After this chapter no more angst! Once I'm done with this story, I'll get back to my request list. Any new requests please make in the comments below or on my tumblr page, my-marvel-musings. You can also go to my ko-fi page, phoenixrl, to request exclusive personal content catered solely for you!

You were pacing on the SHIELD's bus in your new outfit: pants made with room for your tail and an actual dress shirt with a low cut back to accommodate your wings. It was far nicer than anything you had tried to make yourself. You still had the collar around your neck, but you convinced the CIA not to put you back in chains for the trial.

"If you guys drag me in there chained in every way possible, it will prove to everyone in the room that all the work Thor did meant nothing and that you don't trust me. We'll be dead in the water before we can even start. Besides, with this collar on, what the actual hell can I really do?"

"Then why not remove the collar as well?" Agent Ross was in charge with escorting you to the SHIELD's plan that morning.

"Because leaving it on me also shows you value everyone's safety and peace of mind until they also feel they can trust me."

"Very wise of you." He continued to look over the check sheet for leaving the facility that morning.

You shrugged, "you tend to learn a thing or two about people when all you can do is sit there and watch. It's either learn, or possibly die."

He raised his face. "You're very blasé about the fact that you could have died at any moment at the hands of Hydra."

" _V_ _alar morghulis_."

Agent Ross raised an eyebrow at you. "Meaning.....?"

"All men must die. The moment I was rejected at home I knew I was on borrowed time. Even before my mutation reared its ugly head I had heard stories of what had happened to other kids. Kicked out of their home; beaten by a family member, a former friend, a stranger; left to starve on the streets; or flat out killed by a human who fears what they don't understand. Being rescued by the Avengers, having Thor seeing something else in me.... it's given me the chance at life I never once thought I would have."

Agent Ross couldn't help his smile. "Well let's hope after today you get to keep this chance."

"I hope so, as well. I've grown fond of my new will to live."

Now you were on a plane looking out one of the windows as you flew to one of the UN locations in The Hague, Netherlands. It was very weird at first to be in the air but not actually flying yourself. The last time you weren't really paying attention as you had been unconscious most of it and the rest of it you were busy worrying about whether or not you would die that day. You weren't alone in the room but for the most part everyone was giving you space to see what you would do with your new found semi-freedom. 

Though it was hard not to feel the eyes on your back as you only half paid attention to the scenery change outside your window. You were in a room that seemed to be used for conferences/meetings. Behind you at the round table sat Agent Ross, Director Coulson, Nick Fury, and Fury's right hand Maria Hill talking quietly as they watched you. Hill hadn't been there the day of the battle nor had she ever 'visited' you at the CIA facility, but you had to admire how she took in the sight of your wings and tail in stride. A shame she wasn't able to do the same when she looked into your black and red eyes, but you were less shocked by that. The only one who ever looked into your eyes and not flinch or show fear had been Thor. You took a deep breath thinking about the god, wondering if he would be at your hearing. It had been a whole month since Secretary Ross had banned visitors and besides the unauthorized visit from Loki and the note snuck in via Coulson, you hadn't heard from him the entire time. You were starting to miss him badly.

Just as you felt the plane shift beneath you, the door opened and you saw the reflection of Agent May in the plane's window. "We're going to begin our descent now."

"Thank you, May." You heard Coulson reply.

You took a shaky breath and felt your tail start to swing at the end in a nervous fashion. Turning to face the group, you could see they all were waiting to hear what you had to say. But instead, your mouth opened and closed just as quickly. Coulson came over and placed his hands on your shoulders.

"It's going to be ok. You have quite a few good people in your corner. Just remember to breath and go slowly through your story so each word can be recorded." You nodded your head and he gave you a small smile. "Let's go, kid."

The group escorted you off the plane and into a set of waiting vehicles with you standing in the back of a military truck thanks to your wings. A short ride later you were standing in front of a beautiful historic looking building with a clock tower to one side. By the doors stood Nat and Tony and you smiled shyly as they opened the doors for you.

"Hey kid," Tony greeted with a warm smile. "How you holding up?"

"As well as I can, I guess. Thank you for coming here today."

"Well, we couldn't leave our newest recruit to fend for herself against the wolves." He patted you on the shoulder as you two walked down a hallway. "Plus, I had to see the look on your face when you saw our surprise."

"Surprise?" You stopped and looked at Tony in confusion. He just smirked and opened the door to the courtroom. Your jaw dropped in shock. "Thor?"

Thor towered before you in all black Asgardian armor with his red cape draped over his shoulders, looking every bit the fearsome god. Before you could get any more out, Thor wrapped his arms around you the best he could and pulled you close. You stood in shock for a moment before wrapping your arms around his neck, slowly taking in the fact that you were finally touching him. It felt.... you couldn't really describe it. Perfect? No. Complete. You felt complete. You felt whole.

You let out a shaky breath as you tried to hold back the tears. Thor pulled away and gently wiped your cheeks. "Do not cry, little one. I could not let you face them alone. We are in this together."

Nodding your head, you couldn't help the smile on your face. "I know, I'm just not used to anyone being in my corner." You took a deep breath to steady yourself. "So, uh, nice outfit."

Thor's laughter rumbled in his chest. "Stark felt it would have been best if I had shown up in a suit like the other Avengers. But I am a king as well as an Avenger and felt if this was good enough to hold court for Asgard, it was good enough for the court of mortals."

"I can't argue with that logic!" Then what he said hit you. "Wait, the other Avengers are here?"

"Of course! We all want to see you free and many could not wait until the day you came to the compound to meet them."

"Except for Parker," Tony cut in. "Nice kid, but short attention span for boring things like trials. I don't need him fidgeting in there."

"No, you fidgeting in there's enough for the both of you," Nat quipped as she walked past to take her seat. Tony stuck his tongue out at her as you all filed into the room. 

The room itself was large and cozy at the same time. Large windows lined one wall and were filled with stained glass, causing a beautiful rainbow of light to dance along the floor. A long row of desks were immediately underneath those windows with two more desks on the other side facing the first row. As Agent Ross led you to one of the desks, a movement out of the corner of your eye caught your attention. You looked over to see Bucky, Steve, and Nat sit with a few other people you didn't quite recognize. One you were sure was the archer from the battle and another one had the set of metal wings that had taunted you with a drone, but the others were strangers to you. It didn't matter: they had all come to support you.

You happened to notice Loki was missing and turned towards Thor with the question in your eyes. He smiled ruefully. "Loki is still trying to earn his place on Earth. It would not do to have him show his support today."

You just nodded your head and went to sit next to Agent Ross and the CIA's attorney at one of the desks, doing your best not to knock anything over with your wings or tail. To the table next to you sat Secretary Ross with a couple other people you didn’t recognize. You turned to look at Agent Ross who seemed just as shocked as you.

“_____, I swear I had no idea my boss was going to take the opposing side” Ross whispered in your ear. “Just remember to stay calm like Coulson said.”

“It’s going to be hard to focus with him glaring at me.”

“Then focus on Thor. Act like your telling him everything you need to tell the panel.”

You nodded your head and looked over your should at Thor. He flashed you a reassuring smile. You turned around as the panel began to file into the room.


	10. Valar Dohaeris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader faces off against Secretary Ross in front of the U.N.

The day seemed to drag on with no end in sight. Witness after witness was called to speak in front of the panel, including every Avenger that had been there the day you were captured. You were worried at first as each member recounted their experience on the battlefield that day nearly six months ago, but you knew they had to be honest so the panel could see how much you had changed in the time since then.

Still, it wasn't easy to hear Steve talk about how he had to dodge his own shield as you hurled it to him or Sam - the man with the metal wings you had found out - talk about how you were shooting streams of fire at him as you both flew. Even some of the X-Men had shown up to give their testimonies, though you weren't sure it helped your case to be reminded how you smack one in the face with your tail and another you flip over your head because he wouldn't let go of you. 

But for every story about the battlefield, there was another pointing out that you were acting as Hydra's captive, not ally. First was Natasha pointing out how you could have easily wounded if not actually killed several people during the battle but showed restraint as you actually hadn't wanted to hurt anyone at all. Then came Coulson and Agent Ross to talk about how you were always well behaved as a 'guest' at the CIA facility and you never fought them or your restraints. Professor Xavier talked about his therapy sessions with you and the mental damage you had suffered at the hands of the enemy. And finally, Thor took the stand and he went into this long eloquent speech about his daily visits with you.

"If these visits were going so well, why did you stop?" One of the panel members asked.

Thor's face contorted into one of displeasure as he pointed at Secretary Ross, "that man had put an end to the visits. ____ and I were working hard daily to earn each other's trust so that she would feel strong enough to tell us the horrors of what Hydra put her through. Secretary Ross believed it to be a waste of time as he did not care for her trust, only in using her as a weapon like Hydra had." A low murmur broke out among the onlookers gathered. "But ____ refused to be a slave to anyone's demands again and was willing to accept her fate of a death sentence before she continued to be used as a weapon. She has a good heart and possesses the possibility of greatness as an Avenger. I could not allow her to meet that fate."

"And why not, Thor Odinson?"

He met your eyes as he spoke softly. "Because I have fallen in love with that good heart. It is not her fault she was a victim ever since her mutation was born and she should not be punished for being a mutant."

"Do you understand she has caused great destruction to many countries?"

"I do. But you also know it was not of her own choosing. She should be given a chance to prove herself just as Sergeant Barnes had."

The panel whispered amongst themselves before dismissing Thor. One of the gentlemen then turned their attention towards you. "Young lady, I believe it is time that we hear from you."

You nodded your head and slowly moved to stand in front of the panel. You took a deep breath before starting, "my name is _____ _____, though most have known me as the 'dragon lady'." There were a few chuckles behind you from the Avengers that they tried to keep quiet. "I would like to start off with saying thank you for asking us here today instead of allowing me to be marched straight to the gallows," there were a few small smiles from the panel, "I know you were all taking a risk in hearing a trial in regards to a mutant, especially one that had been used as a weapon."

One of the panel members spoke up, "it is indeed a risk. A rather large one. And though your hopeful friends believed it to be a necessary one, not all of us are convinced. Can you please tell us why you can be trusted?"

Instead of answering right away, you half turned to face the Avengers and the X-Men that had gathered. "Can you tell me why you trust them?"

"I beg your pardon? We asked why we should trust you! They are not the ones on trial!"

You turned back to the panel. "Why not? I was told what happened during the Accords. I saw first hand what most of the Avengers can do. Thor told me himself what his powers are. Not to mention the X-Men that are here. The people in this room alone could do more damage than any army you have, and that's not including me. You have in this room a man who can control and freeze everyone with his mind; a genius that can build anything that he can think of; a super soldier that has no problem telling you to kiss his ass when you try to put unreasonable restrictions on his team; a deadly assassin that is former KGB; and a god that could call a storm faster than you could sentence me to death and have this entire building uprooted in a tornado. And that's only the people I know of. Yet you worry about trusting me? If you can't trust them to watch over me and train me properly, then you have no right to trust them with saving your planet on a daily basis."

"Young lady, this-"

"I'm not done." You said calmly in a commanding tone. All your life people had walked all over you, used you, or silenced you. Today you would finally have your say, consequences be damned. "At the age of ten I was tossed out into the streets by my own parents. Ten. As in I was a small child who had absolutely no means of caring for myself. Do any of you have children? Could you see yourself looking into their large, frighten eyes as their world changes around them and think 'I can't have them in my home'? The people who gave me life tossed me out and frankly I'm amazed I wasn't killed before Hydra found me. Not like being with them was any better than death. Shall I go over all they did to me or was Agent Ross' paperwork and tapes enough? I could go into detail if you'd like."

A few panel members flinched at the thought.

"I thought as much." You took a deep breath and looked over your shoulder at Thor. He smiled encouragingly at you before you turned back around. "I won't site the former Winter Soldier or Loki Odinson as reasons why I should be given a chance. Nor will I use my incredible luck of earning a god's love and trust. I will use you. You know of my past, you've read the paperwork, you've heard the testimonies. What more can I say that would change your mind after hearing from those you trust? So now it's up to you to decide whether or not to finish what my parents tried to do."

The panel looked at you for a few moments more before calling a recess. You kept your head held high until they left the room and then you immediately dropped to your knees, your wings semi-wrapped around your body. Agent Ross was the first one to reach you, Thor close behind.

"Are you alright?" Agent Ross crouched in front of you, unsure if he could place his hands on your wings.

You parted your wings back as you nodded your head. "Yeah. I, uh, just didn't expect that to be so draining."

He smiled at you, "sorry about that. But if it's any consolation, you did great."

"Thanks," you wiped the tears that had started to fall. Thor held his hand out and you grabbed it so he could pull you to your feet. “Thank you, Thor.”

Before Thor could offer words of encouragement, Secretary Ross sauntered over as he slowly clapped his hands. “Lovely work up there, young lady. Even I was almost convinced.”

Thor clenched his fist and you saw sparks of lightning dance over his hands. You gently touched his arm and Thor looked down at you. “It’s ok. I can handle this.”

Thor nodded and stepped aside, his hands relaxing.

You stepped up to Secretary Ross, meeting his eyes with your red/black ones as you lifted your wings up slightly to form something similar to a cape. The end of your tail began to swish around, occasionally wrapping around one of your legs. “I never once expected a man like you to believe me. There were too many like you inside Hydra and if you don’t believe men shall I remind you of Alexander Pierce or Senator Stern?”

The Secretary of State grew red in the face. “Who do you-“

You held up a hand. “Don’t bother finishing that sentence. I have absolutely zero fucks to give about what you have to say. In fact, I’m probably in the negative in regards to fucks I have to give. Frankly, you should be on your knees in gratitude that I was never truly an agent of Hydra or you’d no longer have the Avengers. And as much as you won’t admit it, you know damn well you can’t afford to lose them. And what you _hate_ to admit even more is the fact that a dangerous mutant like me can actually be trusted to be on the side of good. You’re so ready to condemn all of us without a second thought and frankly.... well, you know what they say about glass houses.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?!”

A faint smile graced your face. “I’ve met Dr. Banner.”

Secretary Ross looked like he was about to pop but at that moment the panel came walking back in. Your smile turned into a smirk as you walked back with Agent Ross over to your table.

“Was that worth it? Pissing him off?”

You winked at Agent Ross, “best I’ve felt in over a decade.”

He laughed and shook his head. A panel member held their hand up when you moved to return to your seat. "That won't be necessary, young lady. Would you please approach the panel again?"

You gave Agent Ross a quick confused look before going to stand where you were before.

"Now, Miss _____, that was quite a speech you gave before we left and while not everyone is convinced you are being sincere," you felt your stomach drop for a moment before they continued, "enough of us do. Effective immediately, you are no longer the property of SHIELD or the CIA. You are a trial member of the Avengers. You will be placed on probation alongside James Barnes and Loki Odinson. In ninety days we will reconvene here to see if you have made any progress and can join the team on a permanent basis."

Your jaw dropped in shock and you quickly moved to recover. "Thank you, so much."

"You're quite welcome. The collar will be removed today, but kept at the compound should you at any time prove our trust misplaced. You will not be allowed on missions yet, and any time you leave the compound it will be in the company of another Avenger. Do we make ourselves clear?"

"Oh absolutely!"

The panel member chuckled. "Then I moved that this meeting is adjourned for the next ninety days."

You stood there in shock as cheers poured out of the Avengers and the X-Men. Agent Ross came over and placed a hand on your shoulder. "Good job, kid."

You couldn't help a smile and pulled him in for a quick hug. "Thanks. And oddly enough, I'm gonna miss seeing you and Coulson every day."

"We'll miss you, too, but I think you'll survive," he nodded over your shoulder at the approaching Avengers. "Good luck, ______."

" _Kirimvose_."

" _Ao issi jiōrnon_." He responded with confidence. You pressed your lips together and did your best not to chuckle. "Ok, out with it. What did I get wrong?"

"I'm sorry, truly. I know you must have worked so hard on that sentence and I don't want to dissuade you from learning new languages. And technically that sentence was correct."

"But...."

"But the word you used for welcome is generally used in the manner of welcoming someone somewhere."

Agent Ross couldn't help but laugh. "Something similar happened when I tried to speak Xhosa to King T'Challa."

You smiled, "don't worry. Thor and I will have you fluent in no time."

"No, I better quit while I'm ahead. And again, good luck out there. You're always welcome to drop by if you feel lonely."

"Thanks, Agent Ross." You walked over to where the Avengers stood with Coulson. Out of the corner of your eye, you barely caught the sight of Secretary Ross angrily leave the room. Your smile grew wider and you turned your attention back to your new team. "Thank you so much for helping me today."

Tony clapped you on the shoulder and smirked. "Think nothing of it, kid. Now, Phil, if you could do the honors?"

"Of course. Please hold still." Coulson stepped up and reached behind your neck. You heard a few beeps from buttons being pushed before the collar fell away. 

Your hands immediately flew to your neck as you felt your strength return to you. "Thank you."

Coulson smiled as he placed the collar inside his coat. "I'll take this back to the compound, but I'm pretty sure we'll never see it again."

Backing away a few steps, you stretched out your wings to their full length, relishing the feeling similar to stretching your whole body after holding still for too long. Thor ran over and picked you up in a consuming hug. You couldn't help but laugh. 

"So what now, my king?" You smirked.

Thor laughed as he set you back on your feet, "now perhaps it is time to truly use your wings. How would you feel about a little trip before we head to the compound?"

"Where did you have in mind?"

"How would you like to see Asgardia?"

"Your new home on Earth? I would love to!"

Thor took your hand and began to lead you out of the room. "Then let us not waste any time."


	11. Asgardia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor takes Reader to meet his people and to finally share a moment alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to finish this one. Hectic as hell at home. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm gonna take a short break then go back to my request list. If you want to make a request, comment down below or go to my-marvel-musings on Tumblr. 
> 
> And a vote: should I do a sequel to this one? Set a few years later? Let me know.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

The fresh air felt amazing against your skin as you and Thor soared over the North Sea to Norway. The freedom of actually being able to fly without worrying about getting pulled down by your collar was intoxicating and you were going to take full advantage of the opportunity.

Thor laughed as he watched you spin, dive, and skim along the water's surface. You just responded by using your tail to splash him. Next thing you knew, you were chasing each other over the surface in a very elaborate water fight. You were winning - with your advantage of your wings you could scoop up large amounts of water -  until Thor pulled out the big guns and began to make it rain on you.

"Hey!" You laughed. "No fair cheating!"

"I cannot cheat if there aren't any rules to break."

"Can't argue with that logic." You spotted land and pulled yourself up into a standing position to land with ease. Thor landed right beside you as he called the rains away. "I hope it's not too much farther. As much as I've loved flying, I'm really looking forward to seeing your home."

"Well, actually-" But Thor was cut off by someone shouting in your direction.

Looking around, you saw a woman in black and blue leather run over to you. "Your Majesty, you've finally returned!"

Thor chuckled, "was I needed so badly? I assumed you could handle any mischief Loki got into."

The woman rolled her eyes. "He is certainly a handful but manages to mostly behave while you were gone. No, there was no emergency, just our people wanting to see their king again. Oh!" She finally caught sight of you and looked you up and down. "Who's your friend?"

"Brunnhilde, meet ______. She is the mutant I was helping free from Hydra. I've brought her along to see our new home here on Earth."

You gave a shy wave, "hey. Nice to meet you."

Brunnhilde smiled at you and winked. "Same here. Lovely wings."

Thor cleared his throat as you blushed at the positive attention. "I would appreciate it if you didn't hit on my guest, Hilde."

"Now where's the fun in that? She's cute!"

You felt your face grow hotter. "Uh, thanks. But, uh....."

Thor looked at you and saw the confusion in your face. It was clear you two cared for each other, but you had been a prisoner until earlier that day and really had no idea where to go from there. Thor cleared his throat again. "I have begun to court the young lady already. This is our first outing since she has been release from prison so be nice."

Hilde rolled her eyes. "I was being nice until you had to block me. If you ever get tired of the king, come find me."

She winked again and walked off. Thor just shook his head. "I'm sorry, I had no idea she would be so forward."

"It's ok, I'm just not used to so many people not only not being afraid of me, but finding me attractive. It's very surreal." You looked around at the beautiful cliffside. “So are we here then?”

Thor chuckled, “yes, little one. In fact, this cliff is where I last spoke to my father before he passed away.”

“It’s really beautiful. I can’t wait to see the rest.”

You linked hands and Thor began to lead you away from the ocean. After a short walk, you began to see a village pop up on the horizon bustling with all sorts of people. You tried your best to take it all in but the busy town seemed overwhelming. And people occasionally stopping whatever they were doing to bow to Thor as you two walked by was a whole new experience. 

"There's my big brother. I was almost afraid those mortals would lock you up with your dragon love." You whirled around to see Loki saunter up with a half-smile on his face. He took your hand and placed a kiss to the back of it. "Hello again, darling."

"Hello, Loki. Glad to see you again."

"As am I. I take it you are a free woman now?"

"That I am, thanks to Thor and his friends. I am on probation like yourself."

Loki grimaced for a moment. "Yes, though if I am lucky my sentence should be up soon. What brings you two here?"

Thor patted his brother on the back. "I wished to show _____ all the wonders of our people before taking her to the compound."

"Why brother, I have never known you to be such a rebel. Are you delaying her sentencing?"

You couldn't help the smile. "No, Loki. I'm allowed to leave the compound as long as I am in the presence of an Avenger. I'm pretty sure Thor counts."

"A shame. I was hoping for something a little more scandalous. But speaking of which, my time is up and I will have to return to that circus now."

"Safe journey and don't stray!" Thor warned.

Loki only smiled in response before walking off.

"Something tells me he's going to take that with a grain of salt."

Thor sighed, "as I wished he wouldn't. This is why his probation keeps getting extended. I would hate for him to return to being a prisoner. But enough of my family, let me show you all that my people have to offer."

You grinned enthusiastically. "I can't wait!"

You wandered around the many buildings watching people work. A man showed you how armor was made while another promised to make you a weapon once you were off probation. A woman gave you a bowl of the best smelling food you had ever come across and Thor introduced you to Asgardian mead. You took a seat under a tree and watched children play as you ate your food.

"What do you think so far, Lady ____?"

"Thor, it's amazing here! I can see why you would have a hard time pulling yourself away for avenging." Thor chuckled. "But can I ask, why are you showing me all of this?"

He placed his bowl down and took your free hand. "Because what I said was true. I love you and I want you to know as much about me and my people as possible."

You licked your lips and looked down at your hands. "Loki said.... that anyone who loves you must know.... that.... the possibility of...."

Thor squeezed your hand. "Of becoming queen? Yes. One day I will hopefully marry and she will become the queen of my people. But that time is not now or any time soon. For now I love you and just want you to be happy. And I want to be the one who makes you happy."

You couldn't help the blush on your cheeks. "I love you, too, Thor."

He reached over and lifted your chin so you were looking at him. "May I say that you have very beautiful eyes?"

You tried to scoff. "Thor-"

But he cut you off with a gentle kiss. He pulled away and gauged your reaction. You were in shock, but slowly a smile graced your face and he returned it.

"Wanna know something funny?"

"Hmm?"

"That was my first kiss." The blush on your face was almost as red as your eyes. 

Thor beamed at your statement and - surprisingly - you could see a hint of a blush on his face. "I cannot remember the last time I was someone's first kiss. Forgive me for not asking permission first. Loki told me what you had experienced while you were a prisoner of Hydra."

"It's ok, Thor. Truly. Loki reassured me that you would never harm me like they had. And if we are being honest, I really enjoyed the kiss."

Thor let out a throaty laugh. "I'm glad I meet your approval. May I?"

You smiled and nodded shyly before Thor kissed you again. After a few more moments, you both got up and continued on your tour of Asgardia. Soon you stood in front of a freshly made castle with one tower towards the back and a beautifully carved doorway. The guards saluted Thor before opening the door for both of you. 

Thor held out his hand in a sweeping gesture. "Ladies first."

You chuckled and walked into the castle. After a long hallway you found yourself standing in a vast room beautifully decorated with carvings and paintings. Your footsteps echoed all around you as you carefully stepped farther into the room. At the end of the room sat two stone thrones with intricate designs carved all over.

"They're beautiful." You whispered.

"They were made by a nearby village as a welcome for my people." Thor stood by as he watched you carefully walked over to both thrones and began to gently run your fingers along the arm of the nearest one. "While they are beautiful I must admit they are not terribly comfortable."

You turned back with a smile. "No, I can't imagine a stone chair would be."

He gestured to the throne you were touching. "You are welcome to see for yourself."

You blushed and pulled your hand away. "I better not. I may not know much of the world, but I know that no one other than the King and Queen should sit on the throne." Then you smiled ruefully. "Unless that person's hand of the king."

Thor laughed again. "I don't believe that will be a problem. I will never tell on you."

You chuckled as you came over to him. "I believe you. But still I better not."

He wrapped an arm around your waist and kissed the top of your head. "No matter. Maybe one day you will have a reason to sit upon it."

"Maybe I will."


End file.
